Nobodies of A Cloak
by ScarletDavidRose
Summary: Just gonna jump right in with this one. First fanfic. Will get around to doing proper backstory etc. Cyrus and Roxie, on the run from the Organization after finding out who they truly are, go into hiding in what they later find to be Rio. No flames, especially because of the one homosexual pairing between two OC's. Just constructive criticism, please. Hope everyone enjoys.
1. Chapter 1

Cyrus and Roxie arrived at a dark city street, the gargantuan buildings given a bluish hue due to the cloudy evening, as well as the streets being colored dark purple by the buildings shadows. Something was off, the two noticed after exiting the Dark Corridor. The street, first of all, seemed way too wide. The same thing with the buildings. Not only were they very wide, but they were very tall as well. Then they looked at each other, and all became clear. As well as extremely freaky.

When Cyrus looked at Roxie, she had somehow transformed into a Blue-Gold Macaw. One with, as one would imagine, a gold front and blue back, although she did keep her amber eyes. One thing was new, which was her set of head feathers, which looked like a striped-dyed hairdo. One feather was gold, the next blue, etc. that fell down the back of her head and some fell over her right eye.

From what Roxie could see, Cyrus had become a Scarlet Macaw with a sleek, almost feminine look. That part was almost hilarious all on its own. But then he kept his sharp, frost-blue eyes, as well as having sleek, smooth-looking feathers colored a near crimson. He was just a smidge taller than her, which still annoyed her. But he had a fabulous set of long head feathers that fell down the side of his face, and were just a bit of a lighter red than the rest of his plumage.

They decided to walk around, to take in the sights around them as they tried to figure out where they were, or at least get a good idea. They, ironically, felt lucky about having been taught to be extremely observant from previous recon missions. The outsides of the buildings weren't very well kept, as very many cracks could be seen in the plaster on the outside walls. There was rusty, groovy shaped metal plates thrown together for the roofing.

"Looks like we just got dropped in a crap-hole," Cyrus commented, taking in the dirty city around him.

"You could try giving this world a chance," Roxie stated, the moon starting to peak over the horizon which gave the city a bluish hue. She looked around as the walked into a closed food market to see some red and purple lights coming from the end of the street. "Do you see that?"

Cyrus nodded. "I do. Wanna go check it out?"

"Yeah," Roxie replied.

So they headed on over to the light source to find it to be a pile of boxes with a tarp being held up by a pole. With red, purple, and other colored lights peaking through the front opening. They heard music emanating from the box pile and tarp, as well as some hooting. Not owl hooting, like people, or animals in this case, having the time of their lives hooting.

Even more curious than they were before, they shared a glance before walking in. They were surprised to find it to be some sort of club, with a lot of birds dancing to what sounded like samba. There were spotlights being pointed every-which-way as a huge crowd of birds in the center of the club danced. Some birds were standing off to the edges of the club and socializing, and there was an actual bar off to the side serving what looked like assorted fruit drinks. And there were birds there too of course.

"Huh," Cyrus said finally, causing his sister to shoot him a shocked look.

"What do you mean 'huh'?" Roxie exclaimed.

"Just really wasn't expecting a club for birds," Cyrus stated matter-of-factly. He smiled. "It's actually pretty cool."

Roxie definitely thought he had a valid point, but still thought it to be a little crazy. She'd never been in a world where there was a club for birds. Then again, each world brought a new experience, and this one was definitely up there.

Cyrus saw some birds shooting them looks. They weren't negative ones, the looks they were getting from different birds were more like looks of curiosity/admiration. Heck, these birds were even smiling, girls and guys alike. This made Cyrus blush as he heard some of the things they were saying.

"Those two look so hot."

"Think those two ladies are single?"

"Damn, I'd give anything to spend some alone time with that Scarlet."

"Roxie," Cyrus said to his sister, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Can we go over to the bar?"

She gave her brother another look, only to stop when she saw the pleading in his eyes. "I suppose."

They made there way through the crowd to the left of the club where the bar was. The bartender was a handsome looking Army Macaw, both Cyrus and Roxie thought. He was tall with a muscular build, beautiful brown eyes, and a tiny tuft of green and yellow head-feathers.

"Damn," Cyrus said to himself as he observed the bartender serving drinks to other birds. Cyrus noticed he had the cutest beak, which got even better when he smiled at the other party-goers.

"Dibs," Roxie said with a sly smile, slightly enraging Cyrus.

"Now that's unfair!" Cyrus exclaimed, shooting his sister a look of disapproval.

"Snooze ya lose," Roxie said nonchalantly as she eyed the bartender preparing drinks for the other customers.

Cyrus sighed. "That's not what I meant. I meant that it's his decision which one of us he wants."

"True. But no one can resist me," Roxie said confidently, motioning the bartender over to them with a wing gesture.

"Here we go," Cyrus muttered with an eye roll.

"Hi," said the bartender with a smile. "Haven't seen you two around here before."

"Yeah, we're new here," Roxie stated with a flirtatious smile. "What do you recommend, hot stuff?"

That compliment made Cyrus wince on the outside and cringe on the inside. Really? 'Hot stuff?' Roxie must've gotten pretty rusty since he last heard her flirt, because, all he would say was she really just let herself down. She really could've done better than that.

The bartender, meanwhile, politely laughed. "I get those kinds of compliments a lot, so don't be surprised to hear me say, I'm gonna have to stop you right there. But other than that, I recommend the guava juice. It's very good, especially for first-timers."

Roxie's mouth, or beak, rather, fell open. No one ever turned her down like this guy just did. She was at a complete loss for words.

"Two please. And I apologize for my sister; she does this to every handsome guy she sees," Cyrus said with a half embarrassed, half apologetic look on his face as he pushed his sister's beak closed.

"It's fine, honestly. I get it from girls all the time. And two guava's, coming right up," the green macaw said with another smile. He then went to go get the drinks before Cyrus stopped.

"Wait. Can I just have a high five for you shooting my sister down like that? I've never seen that happen so quickly," Cyrus pleaded with a wing raised over the counter.

"Yes, you can," the bartender replied, giving Cyrus a high five before leaving to get the drinks, also leaving a smiling Cyrus and a glowering Roxie.

When the bartender returned with the drinks held in hollowed out Brazil nuts, Cyrus extended his wing in greeting. "I'm Cyrus, and this is my sister, Roxie. We are very pleased to meet you."

"Dominic, but everyone calls me Dom," Dominic said, taking Cyrus' scarlet wing in his green one and shaking it. "Nice to meet you too."

"Hey, Dom! How are ya?" A voice said from behind Cyrus and Roxie, causing them to turn around to see a canary with a bottle cap for a hat, and a red-crested cardinal walking up to the bar.

"Nico! Pedro! I was just talking to these two lovely ladies. See, they're new here and don't know what to expect. Maybe you could show 'em around," Dominic said with a sly smile.

This earned him a look from the two, but he just gave them a look which they quickly understood. This was going to be fun.

"Still got that high voice?" Roxie whispered to her brother who nodded. "Good, cause it's perfect for this situation."

Cyrus smiled at Roxie. "Let's have some fun."

"Really? Well then ladies, follow us. We'll show you how to have some fun," the canary, whom Cyrus assumed was Nico, stated, winking directly at Cyrus. This gesture made his face grow warm as he visibly blushed. Roxie was right, this was going to be fun.

"You got Scarlet, I got Blue-Gold," Pedro whispered in Nico's ear, to which the canary nodded with a sly smile.

"Scarlet, come with me," Nico said, holding out his smaller wing to Cyrus, who quickly downed his juice, wiped his beak, and took Nico's wing with his larger one.

Cyrus assumed the same happened to Roxie as the canary led him into the crowd of dancers. There were so many different birds dancing to the catchy music. Armies, Scarlets, Hyacinths, other birds that Cyrus didn't know the proper names of. There was even a pink Spoonbill shuffling on top of a pile of boxes.

"I'm Nico, what's your name?" Nico asked politely.

He looked like a nice guy, and was attractive too. He seemed to be very, but not overly confident, which Cyrus admired. He thought the bottle cap he wore made him look especially cute.

"Ciara. Pleased to meet you," Cyrus said in his convincing feminine voice.

"Pleased to meet you too, Ciara. Now let's dance," Nico stated before dancing along to the music.

He was concise, Cyrus thought. He liked that.

Cyrus, instead of thinking his moves through, let his body be carried by the music. As the music would change from samba to other different genres, so did his dancing. He felt his body go from flowing dance, to pop 'n' lock, to even breakdancing. (He had a lot of free time to make use of back home. So he took up most of it with self-taught gymnastics and dance).

Although, he wasn't aware of all the other birds that were watching him dance, or how they stared in amazement. He only noticed when he opened his eyes, as doing so relieved all pressure of others watching him. As he noticed everyone watching him, Cyrus froze.

"Ummm, did I do something wrong?" Cyrus asked, using his regular voice.

Everyone just cheered and swarmed him, much to his shock. Many birds made out with him, guys and girls alike. A lot of girls, much to his dismay. It was rather horrifying how all the birds were shoving each other out of the way just to get a piece of him. But when guys kissed him, he really enjoyed that. Some went slow and sensual, while others went rough with the added french kissing.

Meanwhile, Roxie, Dominic, Nico and Pedro were nearly hacking their way through the crowd, shoving birds this way and that just to get up to him, which they eventually did. He heard a shout from Nico, only to feel the talons of another, larger bird wrap around his body and fly him out of the club.

When Cyrus looked up, he saw it was the spoonbill he and Roxie saw upon entering the club. Once they were a good distance away from the club, the spoonbill set him down gently by a street corner.

"Thanks man, I owe ya one," Cyrus said to the larger bird with gratitude, to which the larger bird just smiled.

"No problem," the spoon bill said, smiling down at Cyrus. "And if you ever need a getaway, just shout for me, Kipo."

"I'll remember that. Take care."

"Hey man, you too."

With that, the spoonbill flew off. Around the same time he did so, Roxie and the other three came around to the street corner. Well, Roxie practically tackled him in a hug. Cyrus nearly fell over before finally pushing his overprotective sister off. She cupped his face in her wings and started looking him over to see if he was in any way harmed, like an overprotective mother with her child.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do I need to kick anyone's ass for you?" Roxie said, her voice heavy with worry.

"ROXIE!" Cyrus exploded, shoving his sister away, surprising her. "A, I'm fine. B, I. AM NOT. A CHILD. I can take care of myself just fine."

It took her a moment to collect herself. "You're right. Sorry."

Cyrus sighed. It really annoyed him when she went mother bird (no pun intended) on him. He was a full-fledged teenager of 17, almost 18. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, especially after spending two, nearly three years at Organization XIII.

Now, the others had finally gotten their chance to speak.

"WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO DANCE LIKE THAT?!"

"Dude, props to you for those sick dance moves!"

"YOU'RE A GUY?!"

Cyrus just threw his wings up to get them to quiet down. He wouldn't be able to answer all those questions, and possibly more than just those three in one sitting without having a headache afterwards.

"Okay. One at a time guys," Roxie said to them before Cyrus could answer.

"I taught myself how to dance due to a great deal of free time I had when I was young. Sure, I could have spent that time going out and meeting new birds, but, I was very shy," Cyrus replied to Pedro.

"Secondly, thank you Dominic. I honestly haven't practiced dancing in a few years. I guess it's just like…" Cyrus trailed off, searching for a proper analogy.

"Flying," Roxie chimed in.

"Yes, flying," Cyrus echoed. "I guess it just sticks."

"Finally, yes Nico, I'm a guy. It was Dom's plan for me to act like a girl as a prank," Cyrus explained with a grin. "And I must say, your reaction was priceless."

Nico glared at Dominic, who only gave a sly smile in return. "You always have my back, don't you?"

"You know it Nico. Be it a guy or girl you end up with, I'll always make sure you're the last to know," Dom said with a devilish grin, as he loved messing with the club owner.

Cyrus noticed the moon was full and high in the sky, surrounded by the black void of night. The night wasn't totally void though. It was peppered with thousands of tiny white dots: the stars. It was his favorite time of the day, night time. It was dark, almost an oil black at times. But the light of the moon lit it up with the help of every visible star in the galaxy. Plus it was when he could go to sleep, which he relished greatly.

Roxie heard her brother yawn with contentment as he stared up at the sky, and smiled. Just like old times when they would climb out the window and on to the roof of their two story house, and lay there. Staring up at the night sky, sharing the highlights of their days, just a brother and sister hanging out like two of the world's greatest friends. It was funny; they were just that.

It might not have been awkward for the two of them, but it was for the other three. Nico and Pedro waited for someone else to speak, to break the tension. Dominic did just that.

"So, you two got a place to stay tonight?" Dom asked Cyrus and Roxie, snapping them both out of their thoughts, neither of them too happy about that.

But, they thought about it. They didn't have a place to stay the night, so they shook their heads no.

"Oh, well. I could probably house you two until you find a place to stay," Dom offered with a generous smile.

"Thanks! That would be great!" Roxie replied, Cyrus nodding in agreement.

"Alright. Follow me," Dom said before flying off, the two following him.

Turns out, flying wasn't so hard after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

Dominic's home was on the edge of the jungle just outside Rio. It was a hollow in a very tall tree with a thick branch just outside of it. The entrance itself was fairly big, probably to accommodate Dom's tall structure. Inside, it was surprisingly spacious, with a medium long space in the center, what Cyrus guessed was Dom's 'room' on the left, and two 'guest rooms' on the right.

"Not much to say. I'm tired, so I'll go to bed. I'll let you two get settled," Dom yawned before retiring to his room and falling asleep, tired from a busy night of bartending.

Cyrus and Roxie looked at each other before saying good night and doing the same.

In the morning, it appeared as though Cyrus and Roxie were the first ones to wake. Cyrus felt well rested, whereas his sister did not. So, as his sister went back to sleep, Cyrus flew out of the hollow to go survey the city.

He flew past many buildings, abandoned and busy alike. He flew over busy streets as he searched for a place to land. Eventually, he found an abandoned office building in the middle of the city. This concrete building was covered bottom to top in mold, cracks, cracks filled with mold. Almost all the windows were broken, if not completely gone, as well as covered in dust and dirt.

Cyrus flew through the jagged hole of a broken window, and landed on the soft, dusty carpeting. From what he could tell, the place actually looked better inside than it did outside. He could see barely any cracks in the walls or tiled ceiling, although paint was peeling off the walls.

Before he could take anymore than a step forward, he felt a group of talons wrap around his neck and pin him to the ground. He looked up slowly, catching a black foot standing on his stomach, connected to a stark white body, all the way up to the face of a cockatoo, with pink bags under its eyes and a slightly mangled, flared crest.

"Hello, pretty bird. What are you doing in my home?" he asked in an aged, not necessarily old, British accent, bring his face uncomfortably close to Cyrus', staring him right in the eye.

"I'll tell you if you step off of my throat," Cyrus said in a slightly strangled voice due to the weight on his throat.

The bird on top of him only smiled more menacingly and tightened his grip on his captive's throat. "I think not. Only when you tell me what you're doing here."

Cyrus sighed as he quickly caved, due to impatience. "My wings were exhausted, so I chose to land here. Happy?"

The cockatoo stepped off of his throat, allowing him to get up and take some deep breaths and fill his lungs back up with the proper amount of oxygen. "There. Was that so hard?"

"Mainly because you made it that way, yeah," Cyrus said, rubbing his probably-now-bruised throat with his wing. He'd heard some birds were fierce predators, and never took that into full consideration until now. "Got a name I can call you other than a colossal-"

"Nigel," the cockatoo replied, cutting off the other bird before he could make any more smart remarks.

"Cyrus," he said, ignoring the fact that this guy just cut him off. People like that annoyed him. You know, people who threaten your general well-being and also happen to not respect being called profanities. Or birds in this case at least.

"I think your wings have rested long enough," Nigel said impatiently. This bird's smart-aleck attitude really annoyed him. He'd thought about leaving this bird with a painful present, a lesson to stay away from his home, but it didn't seem worth it anymore. Now he just wanted to be left alone, to plot his revenge against the very bird who wronged him.

"I whole-heartedly-"

"Cyrus! Where are you?! CYRUS!" a familiar voice called, cutting off Cyrus, who replaced the end of his sentence with a long, exasperated sigh, hating having to deal with this situation again.

He then saw a blue and gold blur streak by the window, which he assumed was his sister. He's gone for a full half hour and this happens. To be fair, he should've expected it since she did it in the previous worlds.

"Sounds like you should go, and take care of that," Nigel said with a smirk, putting great emphasis on the word go.

This earned him an eye-roll from Cyrus. "Sisters. A blessing from the Lord himself? Or a curse from Satan? I honestly can't tell sometimes."

With that, he turned around and flew out a broken window. He felt very strange as he went. It was almost as though he felt he would meet this malicious bird again.

After spending some time chasing after his sister, Cyrus finally was able to catch up to her and calm her down. Then, they went off hunting for some breakfast, having not eaten for an hour after waking up. So, taking about twenty minutes to fly out of the city, they reached the rainforest and searched for anything that looked edible, but not poisonous.

Eventually, they found an acai fruit tree. The blueberries growing on vines hanging from the higher branches. Cyrus and Roxie lighted down onto a thick branch, just below the fruit growing on the snake-like vines.

Just as they were about to start eating, they saw a family of blue macaws land a couple branches away. There were two mates, and their three chicks. The mother was a sleek, light blue with jet black talons and eyes that reflected her plumage. The father, on the other hand, had plumage tinted a darker blue, with talons colored a softer black, accompanied by amber eyes.

Then there were the chicks. One of them, a young girl, seemed to retain most of her mother's features, but seemed to have come out rather plump. The other girl, who looked like the oldest, had her mother's build, but had a thin neck and a round head, as well as having blue eyes like her sister. Finally, the youngest, was… Not a great sight to look at. He had his father's dark blue feathers and amber eyes, his mother's body, and a HUGE head. As well as a thin neck. He had a small sprout of head feathers, which were just about is scraggly as the rest of his plumage.

The father of the three chicks looked over, noticing Cyrus staring at them as his sister waved a wing in front of his face. Cyrus snapped out of his thoughts as he batted his sister's wing away, only to notice the father of the chicks looking back at them, his mate asking him what was wrong. Cyrus knew exactly what to do in this situation.

"Roxie, it's rude to stare at other birds! You should be ashamed of yourself!" He scolded his sister, quickly blaming her for his little slip-up, riling her up fast.

"Me?! You were the one staring at them Cyrus! Quit trying to blame me for your stupid mistakes!" Roxie shot back, all too familiar with this behavior.

"Really? Your calling me stupid?! You're the one who thinks I can't handle myself if we're separated for as little as half an hour! But look! I'm just fine! I've been fine!" Cyrus shouted at his sister, who came to a quick decision.

"FINE! If you're JUST PERFECT by yourself, I'll just leave!" Roxie retorted before flying off.

"Roxie! Ugh!" Cyrus called after his sister, regretting even saying anything from the beginning. He mentally kicked himself for what just happened. Again.

"Hey, are you and your mate alright?" the blue parrot asked Cyrus, who buried his face in his wing.

After about a minute of silence, Cyrus looked up at the blue parrot, and took a deep breath. "We're fine. This happens occasionally; she just needs time to cool down. I apologize for making a scene in front of you and your kids."

"It's okay. But are you sure your mate will be okay? She seemed to be pretty mad," the female parrot replied, genuine concern in her eyes.

"Yeah. And we're not mates, that was my sister. Like I said, it's happened before; she'll come around," Cyrus stated with a heavy sigh.

"Wait, how is it possible that she was your sister if she's a Blue-Gold and you're a Scarlet Macaw?" The father asked.

"Well his mom or dad had to have been a Catalina Macaw," the mother replied.

"Yeah, my mom was a Catalina Macaw. But enough of my family. I'm Cyrus, it's nice to meet you," Cyrus stated.

"I'm Jewel, and this is my mate Blu. As well as our kids, Carla, Bia, and Tiago," Jewel replied with a smile. "It's nice to meet you too."

Cyrus smiled back. He then noticed their chicks huddling close to them, most likely shy about this new bird having a conversation with his parents. He gave them a kind smile, trying to assure them that, although he was a stranger to them, he wouldn't endanger them. "Well, I should probably head after her. Don't want her to be taking her rage out on other birds."

The family opposite to him's eyes widened. "That's happened before?"

"Well yes, but it hasn't happened recently," Cyrus stated nonchalantly.

"Do you want me to come with you then, in case you need help with her?" Jewel asked him worriedly.

"I couldn't ask you to do that. I mean, you have a family to feed. Literally," Cyrus pointed out, gesturing to her family.

"Oh that's ok," Jewel replied, not looking worried at all. "Blu can look after the kids. I'm not very hungry right now anyway."

"You're sure?" Cyrus asked her, wanting clarification. He wanted to make sure she wouldn't be having any second thoughts. Roxie used to give people that mind-set. But that was then.

"Yes," she clarified. "Besides, how bad can she be?"

Cyrus just stared at her.

"Cyrus?"

"I'm not going to answer that," he replied finally, wincing inwardly as he recalled eighth grade.

Roxie used to have insecurity problems in middle school. So she would make herself feel better by putting others down with some very creative, yet hurtful names. Sometimes, if she was mad enough, she would get physical. And that was never pretty.

"Anyway, come with me. My sister usually leaves a path of mental destruction when she's angry, instilling fear in the hearts of many. So she shouldn't be hard to find," Cyrus explained nonchalantly, he and their mother having dealt with this behavior before.

Jewel nodded before joining him and flying off, leaving behind her mate and three chicks.

"Dad, mom's going to come back right?" Tiago asked his dad, worry clouding his eyes.

"Tiago, your mother is a strong bird. One of the strongest I've met. Of course she'll be alright," Blu assured the young chick, helping him to feel better.

The only thing was that he hoped she'd be alright. After all, they'd just met, and now his mate just flew off with one of them. They didn't know these birds.

And he was correct, they really didn't.

Back out on the edge of the rainforest, a vertical rectangle of white light appeared just in front of the trees, in a clearing of tall grass. Out of it came a woman with long, shiny teal hair, who wore a white version of the Nobody cloak, with the hood pulled up, concealing her perfect face.

She had a slight tan, thin eyebrows, sea-green eyes, and a dark-red, almost crimson-lipped smile. This woman pulled down her hood and took out a glass tablet with a steel power button at the bottom. She pressed the button, powering on the tablet, and spoke into the Siri-esque function.

"Give me Estelle Rockefeller, RAL," the woman commanded in a gentle, yet serious voice that commanded authority.

 _"Of course, Miss Cynthia,"_ the tablet voice answered in a light, British accent.

Cynthia waited a moment before the video feed popped up on her communicator. Waiting there on the other side of the window, was a smaller woman in an obsidian-black dress with smoky purple hair, angular features, and bronze framed, and oval glasses. She sat at a crystalline, not quite glass, table with a vase of similarly crystalline flowers to the side.

"Cynthia. You've arrived in Rio de Janeiro I assume," Estelle stated, her hands folded in her lap, tone commanding confirmation.

"Yes Ms. Rockefeller, I have," Cynthia confirmed, turning the tablet so her superior could see the waiting city.

"Very good Sandshell. Do you remember your objective?" Estelle asked her agent.

"Yes. Find and collect Cyrus and Roxanne Hoffmann, using force if needed. Then bring them back to Headquarters for further observation," Cynthia replied in a calm tone.

"Very good Cynthia. Report back once you've found them," Estelle commanded.

"Yes ma'am," Cynthia replied before ending the transmission and slipping the communicator into her cloak.

She then whispered a spell of invisibility, watching her visible form seemingly vanish into thin air. Cynthia then flexed her shoulders, causing shiny, sapphire-blue wings to slowly sprout from her back, flapping them a few times. She also furled and unfurled them, ridding them of the stiffness they once suffered from. It'd been nearly a month since she'd used her wings, and was aching to fly.

With a few powerful flaps, she was soaring high into the sky at speeds one could only dream of. Cynthia, after flying around for a bit, headed in the direction of the city, the air blowing her hair straight back, eliciting a laugh mixed with high-pitched cheering. She'd nearly forgotten how free and alive flying made her feel, so much so that she nearly forgot her mission. But, she would find those teenagers, and tale them with her whether they wanted to go or not.

 **Little shorter than the first chapter, I will admit. But I promise, more will come. I'd originally intended for Cyrus to be this way, WK. R 'n' R, skip over the parts where the pairing is most prominent if it bothers you. Anyway, thanks and here's to another chapter!**

 **Stay cool everyone!**

 **B-Dog**


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

Flying through the rainforest, Cyrus and Jewel searched for Roxie. They flew high, low, split up, asked around. Nothing helped. They dove through the dense foliage to a small clearing surrounded by tall trees. Jewel seemed to know this place, Cyrus could see it on her face. Her expression showed an even mixture of happiness and dread. The dread almost completely disappeared as she looked up to one of the trees to their left, which housed a hollow. One that Jewel seemed to be staring directly at.

"Stay down here. I'll be right back," Jewel said to Cyrus before flying up to the hollow and peeking inside. She then walked into the hollow after her face brightened.

Meanwhile Cyrus simply stood where he was, milling over where Roxie could be. They hadn't been searching long, and Cyrus knew that Roxie wouldn't go terribly far. If she wasn't in the forest, she was definitely in the city. She could be anywhere at this point, within reason.

He then felt something poke his side. He looked down to see the cutest toucan chick staring up at him. Cyrus' expression softened as the adorable chick jumped into his wings, rubbing up against his chest affectionately.

"Awwwwww, aren't you just the cutest thing," Cyrus cooed as his heart melted at those big, innocent eyes staring back up at him. "Where's your parents, little one?"

"Cyrus. Be very, very careful. That chick isn't what he seems to be," Cyrus heard Jewel say as he saw her come out of the hollow, followed by an adult male toucan. The toucan nodded at him in agreement.

"Alright Carlos, come up here before you start something," the toucan called to his son, who flew out of Cyrus' wings and into the hollow behind his dad. "I'm sorry about him. He's… Different."

"Oh it's fine. He didn't cause any trouble, unless you count acting adorable as an act of wrongdoing," Cyrus replied with a smile. "Hi. I'm Cyrus. I'm very pleased to meet you."

"I am Rafael. Jewel was telling me about you and your predicament," Rafael stated with a sly smile. "Not to worry amigo. You now know Rafael. And Rafael knows everyone! I'll get a word out about your sister if we don't find her by the end of the day."

Cyrus' smile broadened into a full on grin. He was elated to hear such news. "Thank you so much! You too Jewel!"

"Your welcome," Jewel said with a warm smile. "Listen, I'm going to get back to Blu. I don't want him having another panic attack."

Cyrus understood. He could understand that parenting was stressful enough, even more so if you had to worry about your significant other. He was already worried enough about Roxie. He loved her, in the brother-sister sense. They would never be anything more than that. Unless you counted being best friends as more than that, which he didn't. She was vital to him. Cyrus needed his sister to stay sane, to survive. If he lost her, then his heart would shatter into a million pieces. All that'd be left would be pain and misery, not knowing what he would do next. She was the one thing that gave him purpose.

"Alright. Thank you again for the help, and send Blu my best," Cyrus stated, keeping his smile, his eyes filling with understanding as Jewel flew off.

"Okay amigo, let's go find that sister of yours," Rafael said before flying towards the city, Cyrus following close behind. What he didn't know was that there was a sapphire-eyed Hyacinth following him, some distance away.

Back at the club, Roxie was standing at the bar, a storm cloud hanging over her head, thundering whenever someone walked by. She shot down every guy who tried to flirt with her, even threw in some threats here and there. Dominic noticed this and came walking over with a bowl/cup of coconut water and set it in front of her. She looked up at him, glaring daggers, wanting him to go away. Clearly he read her expression perfectly, because he was rooted in place with a look of curiosity on his face.

"I'll bite. What do you want Dominic?" Roxie asked with a sigh, the storm cloud fading away.

"I want to know why you're so upset. Your attitude is scaring away some of the customers," Dominic asked cooly, staring right back at her. His sentence didn't demand an answer, but his eyes did.

"I'm mad at myself. I got into a fight that had almost no direction whatsoever with Cyrus, then in my rage I ditched him. I even made a scene in front of a couple of Spix's and their chicks. Ugh, I'm such an idiot!" Roxie exclaimed in frustration as Dominic simply rolled his eyes.

"Hey, drink your coconut water, it'll help you feel better," Dominic instructed his upset friend, attempting to calm her down.

Roxie took a sip and nearly shuddered as the wonderful flavor momentarily took control of her senses, sending her into a flavorful euphoria. It even calmed her down. Once the flavorful effect was gone, she looked back at Dominic who wore a slight smirk.

"Better?"

She nodded.

"Okay. First of all, it'll be okay. You two are siblings. You're going to argue over pointless things every once in a while. Don't beat yourself up over it. You just need to blow off some steam," Dominic explained.

"And how do you suggest I do that?"

"Sing," Dominic stated, his sly smile growing.

Roxie stared at him. "Seriously? How will that help?"

"Singing is a great way to express your emotions. Trust me Roxie. Bottling up hour emotions isn't good for you," Dominic stated with a full smile. "Plus I would really like to hear you sing."

This caused Roxie to smile back and roll her eyes. He reminded her of Cyrus, especially when they used to go to their school's Karaoke Club back home. Back when life seemed normal. She and Cyrus used to go every Friday night to Contraville High School to sing all their favorite songs in the presence of their friends. Zeke and Arden especially. Their two best friends in the entire universe. But they were another story entirely.

"I'll do it," she stated with a nostalgic smile.

"Yes! I need to go tell Nico and Pedro," Dominic said in excitement, eliciting a small laugh from the bird opposite of him.

"Roxie? You in here?" Roxie heard a familiar voice call as she turned in the direction of the entrance. Cyrus and a toucan came walking in , the reddish-pink lighting coloring his scarlet feathers a near violet. She waved her wing in the air, catching his attention almost immediately, as he ran over to the bar, the toucan following him.

"You had me worried sick," Cyrus told her when he came over, worry lacing his voice still as he put a wing up to her face.

She looked down in regret, bringing her wing up to Cyrus'. "I'm sorry I ditched you, and for arguing. The argument was stupid anyway."

"It's fine Roxanne, honestly. We're both under a lot of stress, we just need to blow off some steam," Cyrus said.

"Huh. Dominic was right," Roxie said, confusing her brother.

"What?"

"Dominic said the exact same thing," Roxie clarified.

"Hold on, you two know Dominic?" the toucan chimed in, peering over Cyrus' shoulder.

"Yeah, we do," Roxie said, curious of who Cyrus' new friend was. "Cyrus, who's this?"

"Oh sorry sis, this is Rafael. When I panicked and went off looking for you, he helped me. Which, I will always be grateful for," Cyrus stated, looking back at Rafael, who held out his wing to Roxie.

"Nice to meet you," Rafael greeted with a friendly smile, shaking Roxie's wing.

Roxie smiled back. "Nice to meet you too."

"Hey! Rafie! You're here! And Roxie and Cyrus too!" the bottle cap-topped canary said as he and Pedro walked over with Dominic. "So, Roxie, Dominic tells me you wanna sing."

Cyrus gave her a surprised look, mainly because of what they just went through.

"Hey guys, is it okay if Cyrus sings up there with me?" Roxie asked the two club owners, only to see their smiles grow.

"Heck yeah, bird!" Pedro said.

"The more the better!" Nico exclaimed.

Cyrus' look of surprise changed to one of excitement. "Really?! Which song are we going to sing?"

Roxie thought for a moment. Then she thought back to the very first song they performed at Karaoke Club. The very first song they did was a Lady Gaga song, she remembered that much. Then she remembered how Cyrus could pull off a mean Beyoncé, and remembered the song.

"Telephone," was all Roxie said to her brother, lighting his face up with a smile.

"Yes!" Cyrus nearly screamed, clarifying their selection. That was one of his most favorite party songs in high school. It was the very first song they performed in Karaoke Club, and he was so nervous, while his sister was so psyched. He thought back to their first day at that club. Instead of it being at the school like the two originally thought, the club directors bused everyone over to Lola's Karaoke and Donut Spot.

The place looked like to separate businesses merged together quite honestly. On the left side of the store was the donut line. There was the menu on the wall, with the display case showcasing all the delicious looking donuts. And the donuts weren't only delicious, they were phenomenal, especially the Chocolate Banana Split donut. This donut was an XL banana-chocolate chip donut with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the hole, accompanied by a swirl of whipped cream on the ice cream, topped off with a plump, red cherry. It was basically a heart attack for $3.99, but it was worth it.

Then the right side of the place was scattered with round dining tables and lists of the songs you could volunteer to sing. Where as the left side of the place had bright yellow tiled flooring and a similarly colored wall, the right side of the place had a painted gray wall with a dark blue carpet, one with red microphone and stereo designs on it. There were also a few tall windows facing the street, Lola's being a corner store.

In the center of the store against the far wall, there was the stage. The entire thing was black, except for the tall screen on the wall of the standing area, which would play the music or lyric video of the song being performed, while the performers were singing. On Saturday nights, there would even be Karaoke Contests, with the judging being done by how loud the audience applauded. The first prize was three free coupons for a donut of your choosing, which was insane, the last time they checked.

Once they stepped onto the stage of the bird club, Cyrus and Roxie felt right at home. It took them right back home to Lola's in Ceaderville, Ohio. Man did they miss that old life. They'd had a future, back when they were in high school. Life was normal, not too long ago. Heck, it was only a year and a half ago that they were sophomores in high school. It was sad, really. But they were far too excited to live a happy memory to get upset right now.

"Alright everyone! We got a couple newcomers here today. You all are familiar with Cyrus, the crazy gifted dancer whom you tried to rip to shreds, Cyrus!" Nico exclaimed, causing the crowd to go crazy, and Cyrus to blush at his compliment. "And standing next to him is his sister, give it up for Roxie!"

Meanwhile, the crowd cheered as a sapphire-eyed Hyacinth walked into the club, not taking long to spot her targets. The Scarlet Macaw Cyrus stood next to his Blue Gold Macaw sister Roxanne on top of a group of boxes somewhat shaped like a stage. They looked pike they were about to sing a song, which intrigued her.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Cynthia," a familiar voice said behind Cynthia, giving her a pleasant surprise.

"Aldrich!" Cynthia said excitedly as she turned around and gave the black hawk a big hug. "Oh my god, it's been ages!"

Aldrich was her cousin who was also in the same work force as her. Since she had no father, he stepped in and took that position in order to help her mother, his aunt, raise Cynthia. While she was at the young age of 75 years old, Aldrich Simon was at the slightly older, yet still young age of 263 years old. The kind of people they were allowed them to live very long lives, which usually took up thousands of years. Cynthia, in her normal form looked to be between twenty and thirty, while Aldrich had reached his bodily growth limit, by looking to be between forty and sixty. Their bodies stop growing around 270, only to go senior citizen once they reach their thousands.

"So, what are you here for?" she asked her cousin out of curiosity, having not seen him in years.

"I'm here on vacation actually. I've been here before on assignment, and I really enjoyed my time here, so I figured why not," Aldrich told his baby cousin, a smile lighting up his black beak with joy. "What about you? You're looking well."

"Thank you. And I am actually here on assignment, for those two, actually," Cynthia stated, pointing at the brother and sister on the stage, waiting to sing while the club owners made some last minute preparations.

"Ahhhhh, a recruitment mission, I assume?" He asked.

"That, and Estelle wants me to bring them back fro power observation, just to see if they're as valuable as Raethon thinks they are," Cynthia said, adding to his astute observation.

"I gotcha. Hey, if you need help with 'em, don't hesitate to ask. I may be on vacation, but I'm still open to giving help," Aldrich said, making her that much happier.

"Thanks Simon," Cynthia said as she gave him another big hug. "You're the best cousin ever."

"Your welcome, Cynth," Simon said, smiling down at his baby cousin, as they turned their heads to listen to their targets sing their song.

Telephone

(Roxie and Cyrus)

[Roxie]

Hello, hello, baby, you called?

I can't hear a thing

I have got no service

In the club, you say? say?

Wha-wha-what did you say, huh?

You're breakin' up on me

Sorry I cannot hear you

I'm kinda busy

Kinda busy

Kinda busy

Sorry I cannot hear you I'm kinda busy

Just a second

It's my favorite song they're gonna play

And I cannot text you with a drink in my hand, eh?

You should've made some plans with me

You knew that I was free

And now you won't stop calling me

I'm kinda busy

[Pre-Chorus/Both:]

Stop callin'

Stop callin'

I don't wanna think anymore

I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor

Stop callin'

Stop callin'

I don't wanna talk anymore

I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor

[Both:]

Stop telephonin' me

(Stop telephonin' me)

I'm busy

(I'm busy)

Stop telephonin' me

(Stop telephonin' me)

Can call all you want but there's no one home

And you're not gonna reach my telephone

Out in the club

And I'm sipping that bubb

And you're not gonna reach my telephone

Call all you want, but there's no one home

And you're not gonna reach my telephone

Out in the club

And I'm sipping that bubb

And you're not gonna reach my telephone

[Cyrus]

Boy, the way you blowing up my phone

Won't make me leave no faster

Put my coat on faster

Leave my girls no faster

I should've left my phone at home

'Cause this is a disaster

Calling like a collector

Sorry, I cannot answer

This caused the crowd to scream in applause for that little stunt.

[Roxie]

Not that I don't like you

I'm just at a party

And I am sick and tired of my phone r-ringing

[Cyrus]

Sometimes I feel like I live in grand central station

Tonight I'm not takin' no calls

'Cause I'll be dancin'

I'll be dancin'

I'll be dancin'

Tonight I'm not takin' no calls

'Cause I'll be dancin'

[Both/Pre-Chorus x2]

[Chorus/Both]

[x3]

My telephone

Ma ma ma telephone

'Cause I'm out in the club

And I'm sippin' that bubb

And you're not gonna reach my telephone

The crowd roared in applause, pleasing Cyrus and Roxie with the reminder of a familiar time. But, unbeknownst to them, two (not really) birds were plotting something big.

So it took me a while with this one, and I apologize about that. But, I did have writer's block, which was the main problem. Anyway, the mysterious Cynthia makes another appearance, this time with someone like her. Should we be worried? You shall find out! Next chapter on Nobodies of A Cloak!


	4. Chapter 4

Cyrus and Roxie stepped off the stage as the security hawks held back the crowd, Nico, Pedro and Dominic grabbing them and leading them outside. It was crazy how much the crowd loved their song, since they hadn't sung in any way in almost two years. Like many things, it may just be like riding a bike. For them anyway.

"For first timers, up there at least, you guys did great," Dominic complimented, trying to hold back his extreme joy and his excitement. He looked at Cyrus and for a moment, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful he looked. The sun was setting, the orange light complimenting his sleek crimson feathers very well. And that body! He was so fit for such a young adult, with such smooth looking curves, he almost looked feminine.

"Thank you," Roxie said with a small, unnoticeable blush. "Truth be told, we haven't sang in almost two years."

"Seriously?!" Pedro said. "You two were so solid in your performance, I don't think anyone could tell."

"I guess it's just one of those things that never goes away," Cyrus commented, noticing Dominic looking at him. He had an idea of what the other bird was doing, but wasn't sure. In fact, he didn't think it likely at all that the other bird was checking him out. That is until he thought about it. When Roxie flirted with him, he shot her down, which was hilarious. But besides that, he did say how many other girls flirted with him, and how he'd turned all of them down.

But, it wasn't like Dominic wasn't attractive either. He had a toned body, definitely athletic. His feathers looked beautiful in the warm sunset, even when they looked well kept and glossy before. He was a little taller than Cyrus, which he liked. He wasn't a fan of the guys who were really built and popular, football players for example. He was more into the leaner guys, ones who had muscle, but not the gratuitous amount that football players/body builders had. Upon deeper thought, Dominic was extremely attractive.

"You guys can come back to sing anytime. All you have to do is ask," Nico stated with a warm smile.

"Thank you Nico," Roxie stated, smiling back at the canary.

"It's getting late. We should head back," Dominic stated, snapping out of his little trance.

"I'm going to take a little fly around the city. It looks beautiful this time of day," Roxie said to Dominic and Cyrus, having just seen the way they were looking at each other. "You guys cool with that?"

"Yeah. Just don't stay out too late," Cyrus said as he gave her a quick hug.

She returned the hug, then flew off. Meanwhile, Cyrus flew off with Dominic back to his nest. As they flew, Cyrus thought more about how Dom was looking at him, back outside the club. Was Dom interested in him? Well, before he could answer that question, he had to ask himself the same thing. Was he interested in Dom? Dom was certainly one of the nicest and friendliest people, or birds rather, he'd ever met. Especially compared to his first boyfriend, who embodied the word abusive. Anyway, Dom was physically attractive. There was no denying that. He was charming, funny, and just a really good friend in general. He'd definitely go out with Dominic if he'd been asked to. He'd always been too shy to ask anyone.

When they got back to the nest, Dominic landed on the branch next to the entrance-way, and sat there, staring at the sunset. He had a slight smile, and let out a sigh of content. He hadn't known why he'd stopped looking at the sunset. It was so calming and beautiful, but having lived alone all his adult life, he gained a sense of loneliness that grew every time he stared at the sunset alone, which was every day. He almost went back inside, that is until he heard something he thought he'd never hear.

"Care if I join you?" Cyrus asked him, having fallen a little behind after getting lost in his thoughts, only to just catch up.

"Of course, go ahead," Dominic replied, a full smile lighting up his face.

"Y'know, when Roxie and I were kids, we used to look up at the stars on the nights we couldn't sleep. We wouldn't really talk, we were just fine with each other's company," Cyrus stated, trying to break what might have been a long silence.

"Sounds really nice. I was an only chick, so I'm just a little jealous of those birds with siblings," Dominic said, sadness lightly lacing the statement.

Cyrus decided it was now or never. Frankly he preferred now.

"Dominic, do you like me?"

The Army Macaw froze a little at the question. "Well, we're friends, so yeah. I do like you."

Cyrus inwardly sighed. Unfortunately, he'd have to be more direct. He wanted to make this as comfortable as possible.

"I mean more than that."

"Ummm," he started, clearing his throat. "I mean, well…maybe."

"Dominic. I'm gay, I can tell when a guy is checking me out," Cyrus stated with an understanding smile. "What you were doing back outside Paradise, you were checking me out."

Dominic didn't know how to respond. He was happy that Cyrus was gay, meaning he was one step closer to being with him. But still, Cyrus hadn't confirmed that.

"You're okay with that?" Dom asked him, still shy about it.

"Yeah! It's a confidence booster when a guy checks you out, although you would've made me blush if you licked your beak. Thank God you didn't do that," Cyrus stated, blushing at the thought of Dominic doing that. He did have to admit that a little bitty part of him would still enjoy that kind of attention. Dominic, after all, didn't sound much older than him. "But, to be fair, I was checking you out too. And before you worry about looks, I go for the bird's personality, so, you're good."

"Thanks. Birds usually hit on me based on my looks, so that's comforting," the other bird said, smiling in his newfound comfort. It was nice to know that Cyrus was that kind of bird. So many times had girls and guys hit on him because of his looks. Frankly, he was sick of it. But when he did turn them down, he tried to be as nice as possible about it. Most birds took it mildly well, with added feelings of disappointment. Some wouldn't take it well, and would end up being asked to leave Paradise.

"Y'know, this really is a whole lot better with someone else," Cyrus said without thinking, a happy and loving tone filling his voice as he said it, one that shared no possible regret.

To that, Dominic put a green wing around Cyrus' shoulders, and pulled him close. Cyrus rested his head against Dominic's chest and breathed in his scent. It was just wonderful. He smelled of so many different fruits, they all blended together into one perfect scent. Dominic did the same thing as he rested his head atop Cyrus' head. He found it odd at first; Cyrus smelled of freshly fallen snow, yet it was mixed with the smell of firewood. But after a second, he fell in love with it, just as he'd fallen for Cyrus. So they sat like that, staring into the sunset, excited about what this new relationship would bring.

Meanwhile, Roxie had just found a tall building to land on and look out at the city around her. It looked beautiful, in a gritty sort of way. She admired how the city looked as if it'd seen hell everyday, yet stood defiantly against it. The way the small cotton balls of clouds gathered together reminded her so much of home. Finally, the sky was tinted yellow-orange with a hint of red. Red. That brought up some old memories of who she was before. She was still Roxie, but she was Roxxenna at the same time, Nobody Number X in Organization XIII.

She'd been sitting with Axel, her boyfriend and fellow Nobody at the time. He'd described to her how of all the colors of light the sun produced, the red light traveled the farthest. She'd compared their relationship to that red light, claiming it would travel the farthest out of any other relationship in the universe. To that, Axel brought her close, and they shared a kiss. That was the last day they had a normal moment; the day before she got her memories back.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to eat here," a voice stated behind Roxie, causing her to turn around and see who it was. The voice came from a bird feasting on a chicken leg, which didn't necessarily disturb her, she just found it odd. The bird, while not old, was an aged white cockatoo with a white crest that ended in yellow. His feathers, contrary to what she'd expected, were very well groomed and beautiful. The stark white feathers looked very soft and smooth, perfect for snuggling up against… wait a minute. Where exactly was that thought of hers going?

"And you seem to be succeeding in your endeavor," Roxie replied, her smart-ass attitude getting on his nerves quickly. Then he noticed something. That familiar body, the head feathers. This was the sister of that Scarlet Macaw he ran into a couple days ago, the one who'd not come back to share a meal like he said he would. Not that that got on his nerves. The bird had obviously changed his mind about having lunch with someone like him. That just gave him extra time to plot his revenge. Conversely, he'd actually come up with nothing, which surprised him.

Then he noticed something. This girl, she was a very nice sight to look at. Her feathers had the perfect colorings of blue and gold, as well as having a shiny, smooth look to them. The girl herself was very shapely and fit, having the most perfectly curved body of any bird he'd ever seen, which said something. Then her beak was the perfect jet-black, which complimented her looks in every way. Finally, her amber eyes were simply beautiful, and even seemed to have a slight sparkle to them. This bird was perfect. He had to be with her.

He changed his demeanor immediately. "I apologize. It's not often that I meet birds as beautiful as you. My name is Nigel."

Roxie was surprised by his change in behavior, but welcomed it with open wings. She smiled. "Hello Nigel, it is very nice to meet you, and thank you for the compliment. My name is Roxanne. Although, everyone just calls me Roxie."

"Would you mind if I called you by your full name?" he asked.

"You may if you wish," Roxie replied. Then she eyed his meal. "So, you eat chicken?"

Fearing it might not please her, he moved to dispose of his meal. Roxie found this unnecessary.

"Hey, I don't hold anything against you for eating chicken. I myself actually like it," Roxie stated, surprising Nigel.

"Really?" he asked her, tearing off a piece of the meat and offering it to her. "Would you like some?"

She did just eat, but a little more food couldn't hurt. "Sure, why not?"

Taking the peace of meat in her talons, she ate it, savoring the fresh taste as it melted in her mouth. She hadn't had chicken in so long, the taste of this morsel was made so much better by that fact. And the way it was spiced! The Brazilian style in which the chicken was cooked was just fantastic!

"You have no idea how long it's been since I've had chicken, Brazilian style much less! You've no idea how grateful I am," Roxie told him, a grin lighting up her face as it spread across her face. "This is so cliché, but how can I ever repay you?"

Nigel tapped a talon on his chin in thought, until he came up with something. "Meet me for dinner tomorrow."

"Same spot?"

"I'll be waiting," he said, a smile on his face contrasting his tired eyes.

The Dark Tunnel opened in a deserted alley in the middle of the city, and a tall figure with a black buzz cut and dark tinted visor stepped out, his hands in the pockets of his black, full body coat. He pulled his black gloved hands from his pockets and pulled off his visor, staring up at the star-crowded sky with his bright pink eyes. He then turned his attention to exploring the shadowed city around him, and maybe even have a small chat with those two pests masquerading as macaws. He always enjoyed ruining the days of his enemies, especially the select ones in this world. Something in his cloak buzzed, and he pulled out an obsidian framed, glass tablet just as an audio feed popped up.

"Have you arrived?" the female voice asked.

"Yes," the man replied. "I have."

"Good. Find the targets, and bring them to me."

"And the two pests?"

"Do with them how you please. Just complete the mission."

"Yes ma'am."

The feed disappeared as the man stuffed the tablet back into his coat before he zipped it up, the cloaking mechanism kicking in as he did so. This way, only people of his race, or those with exceptionally strong hearts, as strong as his or that of a race he strongly disliked, could see him. In order to accomplish such a feat, one had to have one emotion be vastly stronger than the others, love and compassion for all being an example, or a hatred that ran extremely deep within ones mind. But this was nearly impossible to accomplish, so he didn't have any worries.

So, he unfurled his jet black draconic wings, and took off into the sky, putting back on his visor as he scanned the city for his targets.

The next morning, Cyrus awoke in the soft green wings of his new lover, opening his eyes to a very beautiful and perfect sight. Beautiful, because his new boyfriend was the perfect physical package. Athletic build yet not overly built, a cute black beak, and glossy-smooth emerald feathers. Perfect, because he was charming, funny, knew how to pull off the perfect prank on his other friends, but most of all, kind. He was very cute right now too, due to a serious case of bed-feathers. Sure, Cyrus probably didn't look much better, but this was a truly great sight to behold. Dom's feathers looked very, and non-sexually, kinky. Almost every feather stuck out in every direction possible. It was actually pretty funny.

This caused a quiet snicker that slowly developed into a full on laugh, rousing his partner from his slumber. Dominic took on a look of confusion at this as his partner rolled out of his wings, still dying of laughter.

"Wutz so fvunny…?" Dominic asked him, letting out a huge yawn in the process.

"Duhuhude! You have s-s-serious bed f-f-f-feathers!" Cyrus managed to get out before laughing even more, slapping his wing multiple times on the floor as he did so. He'd never laughed this hard in his life, and he'd seen some pretty hilarious stuff in his sixteen years of life. Like that time his friend went literal head over heels the first time they went skating, and landed on the floor with a loud THUD. The best part was they hadn't actually gotten on the skating floor yet.

Dominic got up and looked at himself, his tired, half closed eyes going as wide as they could go, now fully awake and in horror. He'd never had this bad a case of bed-feathers before. This was almost as bad as the first time he'd bartended at Paradise, when he spilled coconut all over himself while preparing his first smoothie for someone. He'd felt really bad and apologized to the bird, who was actually fine with it. They'd commented on how they'd gotten a good enough laugh from his accident and could due without the smoothie. That was just extremely embarrassing.

He slapped his wings all over his body, attempting to flatten all of his feathers back into their original position, surprised to see in his haste, it actually worked. He looked like a normal bird with flat feathers, which in turn caused his boyfriend to finally stop laughing. Cyrus actually used a feather to wipe a tear from his eye, and almost let out another, smaller laugh when he saw the glare on his boyfriends' face.

"What? That was genuinely funny," Cyrus stated with an innocent smile. That fell away quickly when he realized Dom was slowly stepping towards him, closing the distance between them until Dom's chest was just a hair away from Cyrus', showing how tall he was compared to his boyfriend. Something Cyrus just noticed actually.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I would never do that," Dominic stated, bringing his wing up to Cyrus' cheek, rousing a slight blush from his lover. "I'll give you a five second head start. But when I get my wings on you, you will be sorry."

"And that starts…?" Cyrus asked him, slight fear entering his eyes as only one possibility of what Dom would do to him if he was caught.

"Five," Dominic started, a devilish grin spreading across his beak.

No sooner did he say that, Cyrus bolted out the hollow and headed straight for Paradise, hoping he could have Nico and Pedro convince Dominic to calm down, and hide behind Roxie if she was there too.

Dominic kept his word and waited four more seconds, then flew as fast as he could after Cyrus, thinking he would go to Paradise to try and have Nico and Pedro calm him down. If that was the case, he should know that Nico and Pedro would have his back, and he would have his revenge.

Once Cyrus got to Paradise, he spotted Roxie in the crowd, dancing with Jewel and Blu. He walked straight into the crowd, politely pushing past the other birds, not that they minded, and grabbed Roxie and dragged her to the outside of the crowd. She looked rather annoyed a this.

"What is it Cyrus? Didn't you see me dancing with Blu and Jewel?" Roxie asked her brother annoyedly. Cyrus explained to her what happened, and by the end of it, she understood. Although she wouldn't help her brother with his predicament like the evil sister she was, she would make it seem like all was well. Again, she would do this being the evil sister she was.

Just then, Cyrus noticed that Dominic entered the club, then proceeded to yelp and hide behind his sister. Roxie just sighed and walked up to Dominic and led him back outside, much to her brother's relief.

Once outside, Dominic crossed his wings, staring at Roxie expectantly.

"Ok," she said, slapping her wings together. "This is how this is going to work. You will get your revenge. But first, you have to trick him into thinking you've forgiven him for embarrassing you."

"Wait. You're going to help me? I thought you were going to keep me from getting my revenge, as his sister," Dominic said confusedly.

"I am his sister. But I haven't played the role of being the evil sister in a long time, which is something that I miss," Roxie explained. "Now, you're going to tell him he's forgiven, and you, as his new boyfriend, are going to show him an awesome day. I trust you know how to do that. But, after the day is over, that is when you bring him back to your hollow, and strike, for that is when he will least expect it."

"Sounds like a plan," Dominic replied, sharing Roxie's sly smile. "Now tell me, what is it that he doesn't want me to do?"

Roxie leaned over and whispered it to him, his smile growing ten fold, and evolving into a full on laugh. He was honestly surprised. That was what Cyrus was so afraid of? Really? He must've seriously despised it when people did that to him. He wasn't affected by that, but he loved doing it to his last boyfriend. On the contrary, his last boyfriend loved having that happen. But since Cyrus hated it so much, it was going to be so much better.

"Thank you for that little bit of information. I'll use it to my advantage as much as possible," Dominic thanked her, excited for tonight. He was also excited to dance with Cyrus, especially since he was off today. One of the hawks would be bartending today.

They stepped back into the club to see Cyrus dancing with Blu and Jewel in the crowd. They entered the crowd, politely pushing past the other birds, and tapped Cyrus on the back. Cyrus turned around, and nearly yelped after he stopped dancing. His sister silenced him by putting a feather to his beak, and gave him a look that said 'pay attention.'

"Dominic isn't going to do anything to you. We resolved the situation so that the only thing he will do is show you a good time," Roxie stated matter-of-factly, lying about the first part. Then she turned to Dom. "Right, Dom?"

Dom nodded. "Yep."

"Now get to it love birds, I've got to go talk to Nico and Pedro," Roxie said before walking in another direction, having spotted the inseparable pair talking with Rafael at a booth.

Hearing this caused Blu and Jewel to turn to the both of them with a look of mild shock.

"You two are together?" Blu asked the pair in shock.

"Uh-huh," Cyrus replied, wrapping his wings around Dom as they prepared to dance.

"Why didn't you tell us you were gay?" Jewel asked him, seeing as how they were friends for a while now.

"Well, I've known Nico and Pedro the longest, so naturally, they were the first to know. Even then, it took me a few years to work up the courage to tell them. Having met you guys only about a year ago, I was still working my way up to letting you know," Dominic explained, scratching the back of his head with his wing.

"It's not like we were going to hate you for it," Jewel stated.

"And to be clear, if you two did, we would've had words, you guys and I," Cyrus interjected, staring at the couple opposite them for a moment.

"But yeah, that's why I didn't let you guys know until now. I was a little afraid you guys wouldn't except me for who I am," Dominic said with a blush, surprising Cyrus. He'd never seen Dom blush before. But it made him that much cuter.

"We're your friends Dom, we'll always accept you for who you are," Blu stated, placing a wing on his friend's shoulder, comforting the Army Macaw.

"C'mon guys, let's get dancing! I wanna see his moves!" Cyrus exclaimed, wrapping his wings around Dominic, rather firmly. "I'm curious as to what he's better at: bartending or dancing?"

Blu and Jewel nodded before turning to face each other, once again wrapping their wings around each other, moving with the beat, showing a rather impressive display of dancing. Jewel seemed like she was born into it, making her moves seem effortless. Blu, meanwhile, seemed to be putting forth more effort, trying to look as good as possible in his dancing, yet still managing to keep up with his mate.

Cyrus was self taught with his dancing, and he'd tried to cover every genre he could. Classical, pop, hip-hop, Irish (he loved jigs), tap, break-dancing that led him into some parkour. That took up many hours upon many years of his life, so he hoped he could measure up to Dominic. It would be embarrassing for his boyfriend to be a better dancer than him, in the sense of not being able to keep in time with him. But, he was going to try his hardest to keep up with this wonderful bird.

They started dancing, starting with simple back and forth movements, but soon jumped to the more complex and fun stuff. They broke apart a few times to do some solo moves but always ended up back together, spinning with each other, and twirling the other to the music. All Cyrus' worries of not being able to keep in time with Dominic dissolved as he was having the time of his life. The dancing took all of his worries about his friends, Heartless and Dusks, and the Organization away. He was happier than he'd been in a very long time. Dominic, on the other hand, was also having the time of his life. He was happy to show Cyrus his dancing prowess and prove he wasn't just a bartender, although bartending was still fun. Cyrus' dancing, having seen it first hand the night they'd met, was perfect in every aspect. It was just one more thing he loved about Cyrus. He was just a phenomenal bird.

They danced for a few hours, not that they could tell. That's how much fun they were having. By that time, it had gotten pretty late. Some birds were leaving, others retired to the booths to talk with each other, or joined friends at the bar. Cyrus noticed Nico and Pedro hanging back around the box wall, having a chat. They noticed him standing with Dominic, and smiled. Pedro gave a 'thumbs up' with his wings. Nico tipped his bottle cap in compliment, then nudged his head in the direction of the stage. Cyrus turned his attention there to see his sister had gotten on stage. She noticed him staring at him, and gave him a smile.

'This is for you,' she mouthed. She was going to sing everyone, including Cyrus and Dom, one of her and Cyrus' favorite songs. 'All Our Days' by Casey Lee Williams of the Williams' Trio. They held this song very dear, as it reminded them of their mother, whom they hadn't seen the longest out of everyone they held dear.

Gwynivere Hoffmann, their mother, was the light of their dark world. The very memory of her was enough to keep them going, to drive them to find their friends, Zeke and Arden. Their mother was the kindest, most passionate woman they'd ever known. The best mother they'd ever had. At the same time, she couldn't think of her right now, she needed to stay happy in order to sing this song.

"This is for my brother Cyrus, and his boyfriend Dominic," Roxie stated with a happy smile on her face. "This is a slow dance song, so enjoy All Our Days. Oh, and Dominic, if you break my brother's heart, I will end you."

As his sister started to sing, Dominic brought Cyrus close with a smile, glossy red feathers lightly brushing against soft green ones. Dom wrapped one wing around his boyfriends' back, and took his other wing in his. Cyrus gave him a shy smile accompanied by a blush. Of all the dancing he'd practiced, he'd never done slow dance. He just never thought he would need that skill, not until now. Dominic smiled back, the look radiating confidence as he tried to assure Cyrus that everything would be fine.

"Just follow my lead, and you'll be fine," Dominic assured Cyrus, tilting his chin up to stare him in those beautiful, sharp blue eyes as Cyrus started to look down in shame. The signals led Dom to believe his partner had never slow danced before. He was quite pleased that, not only would he be his first slow dance partner, but the one who would teach him how to do it as well.

Cyrus only nodded as he stepped with Dominic, the slowness letting him easily keep up with the bird opposite him. They danced together, first in simple side to side steps as the slowly spun around, eventually going into twirls and other more complicated moves, making it a wonderful experience for the both of them. The song may have only been a few minutes, but time seemed to slow down as they danced with each other, allowing them to savor each wonderful moment of the experience.

At the end of the song, on the final note, with Cyrus in his wings, Dominic leaned the both of them close to the ground, smiling at his lover. Cyrus smiled back, this time with a shared confidence, staring into the beautiful eyes of his boyfriend. Then he did something daring, something that Dominic didn't expect. Cyrus moved one of his wings from Dom's back, to the back side of his head, and pulled him close so that their beaks connected. This action elicited a pleasantly surprised gasp from Dominic, but he quickly kissed back, closing his eyes as the two of them shared in the action's euphoria.

After what seemed like an eternity of euphoria, the two of them pulled apart for air, Dom holding Cyrus close as he brought them back to standing position. Unbeknownst to them, the crowd of birds formed a ring around them, giving them a circle of empty space to dance in. They must've done a good job dancing, because the crowd cheered and applauded them for their show. The semi-new couple payed the crowd no attention as they held each other close, smiling at one another. They didn't even notice Roxie bolt out of Paradise as soon as she finished her song.

"I told you you would be fine," Dominic said, his smile changing to a knowing smirk.

"You were wrong," Cyrus said, surprising his boyfriend. What could he possibly mean by that? Their dancing was great, heck, it was phenomenal. Cyrus quickly silenced his thoughts by expanding on his response.

"I was so much more than fine thanks to you," Cyrus said, falling victim to his urge to kiss Dom on the cheek. "Shall we go home to make the night even better?"

"Let's," Dominic stated with a smile, knowing the perfect way to end the night. So they left the club, flying through the darkening sky to Dom's hollow.

Once there, Dom wrapped Cyrus in his wings, returning a kiss on the Scarlet Macaw's cheek. Cyrus blushed, not that Dom could see, and smiled. Then he proceeded to rest his head on the crook of Dom's neck, the Military macaw resting his head on the Scarlet's. All thoughts of revenge in the bird's mind melted away as he stood there and listened to his boyfriend's breathing, letting out a sigh of content.

Cyrus let out a yawn. The softness of Dominic's feathers, the steady pulse of his heartbeat, the warmth of the taller birds' body against his. It was lulling him to sleep, his eyelids becoming heavy as his smaller form started to sag against Dominic, making the other bird take notice.

"Whoa there, somebody's sleepy," Dominic chuckled as he gently pushed Cyrus to his feet, keeping an extra green wing wrapped around his back for more support.

"It's been a long day," Cyrus yawned. It really was, what with Roxie running off, again, searching for her, finding her again, evading his boyfriend, making up and out with his boyfriend. Just everything that had happened that day had made him extremely tired. "Mind if we got to sleep early?"

"Nope, I've got nothing against extra sleep, especially with my new love," Dominic replied with a smile.

That last word made Cyrus' cheeks grow a little warm. "Alright then."

So the two lovebirds went to sleep in Dom's nest, Dominic forgetting all about his planned revenge as he laid down with his boyfriend, staring at those beautiful eyes as they started to close, and let out a small sigh. He hadn't felt this happy, Cyrus being his first boyfriend in a couple years. His future certainly was looking up.

 ** _No words can describe how sorry I am. Sorry for the wait, you few people who read my stories. This one was my to priority, it being my first ever fanfic and all. I will get to Nature of the Storm and finish and post its second chapter. But I must say it does feel good to be back. Anyway, I do believe this is chapter four, extra long to make up for my absence, and I will work on chapter five soon! (School has now also been a MAJOR factor :P)._**

 ** _~SDR_**


	5. Chapter 5

The man wearing the black visor and armor and suit landed in a nearby field of grass to rest for a while. He flapped his dark dragon wings a few times, the obsidian scales tipped with vibrantly glowing amethyst loosening after the extended flight. The man grabbed his visor with his gloved hands and removed it from his face, revealing small silver and black horns on the edges of his face, as well as eyes that matched the amethyst of the scale tips on his wings. He then directed those amethyst eyes towards the moon, and thought of his colleague. His first search had turned up nothing, which made him hope that her search had gone better. In fact, he would contact her before the night's end, he decided. Then what caught his eye were the two figures flying through the air about a mile away. He should've expected to see them, since the three of them shared the two targets. Too bad they weren't on the same side. Then again, all people of that race were stuck up. Probably wouldn't have mattered either way.

Dark flames engulfed his hand and grew outward into the shape of a black metal staff with a draconic head, the eyes represented by glowing rubies. A jet of white flames burst from the dragon head of the head of the staff, concentrating themselves into the shape of a scythe blade. Slipping his visor back on, the man flew back into the trees some a hundred feet behind him. Soon after, two people in similar, opposite colored gear as him landed softly in the grass. One had long blue hair, the other had sandy brown hair that barely came to his forehead. A water elemental and an earth elemental. He could tell since their hair color matched their wing color. It was a kind of trademark for Seraphimians.

"Those children prove more trouble than their worth," the sand brown haired Seraphimian stated in annoyance to his colleague. He folded his wings as they disappeared into his back, folded his arms and looked around. "I guess we'll set up camp here. You seemed pretty quiet during our search."

"I was simply focused on the task at hand, Aldrich," the blue haired woman simply stated. She too wondered why they were on a mission such as this. The usual mission included eliminating Heartless or Dusk threats in multiple worlds, performing reconnaissance on the countless new ones that were found nearly every week. The Organization did this as well. But the Seraphimian goal was different. Their goal was not to collect hearts to recreate Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts was dead, and they accepted that. Their goal was to save hearts. To kill Heartless, to take the Hearts, and store them, until their owners could be located.

The Luciferian goal was the exact opposite. They strived to steal Hearts from the Seraphimians, to steal the power from the Hearts. The Luciferians, the demons were far worse than the Organization could ever be. The Organization was just a group of mislead Hearts chasing an impossible dream. Both races had tried to convince the lost group to join their cause, to tell them Kingdom Hearts was dead. They never listened. But that was besides the point. The Demons only wanted to use the power of the Hearts to take over the collective Multiverses, or the Omniverse.

Captain Chancellor Raethon witnessed it himself. The leader of their people, the most powerful of their people, had arranged a meeting with the leader of the Luciferians, Queen Commander Gwynivere H. Orfthrix. They had agreed to meet to discuss Enchantrum trade negotiations. Enchantrum was the source element for all magic use in the Omniverse. On their home plane of Seraphimia, Enchantrum was both a solid element and a gaseous one. All Seraphimians had magic because of the gas being a key part of the atmosphere. It could also be found in a multitude of places a fluorescent rainbow crystal. And it was used in everything the Angels made. (Angels was a slang term used by the other worlds who knew of the Seraphimians, and called them so for their deeds and behavior). Enchantrum was used in their weaponry, their high-tech battle cloaks were lined with Enchantrum dust, it was used in jewelry to make it the most beautiful it could possibly be, as well as the most expensive. It was even used in the very foundation of the Grand Citadel.

But at the meeting, as soon as Gwynivere and Raethon were alone, she attempted to kill him. Those two were the leaders of their people for a reason. Gwynivere was the most powerful Luciferian in all of existence. Instead of having one weapon spirit like the rest of the Demons and Angels, she had thirteen, though she normally only partnered herself with twelve of them. For Gwynivere had a power no other Demon or Angel had been born with in thousands of years. She had the Zodiac power. A power few could wield without losing sanity. This was because most Luciferians and Seraphimians had shared a body, so to speak, with their weapon spirits. That was a burden on the mind enough as it was, sharing your having two souls in one body. Gwynivere shared her body with thirteen other weapon spirits, which stood alone as one of the many reasons she was the Queen of the Demons.

"Cynthia!" Aldrich shouted at his companion, finally regaining her attention. If worry was made out of clothing, he'd be wearing a very detailed mask. "Are you sure you're alright? You've been acting strangely ever since we started our search."

The blue haired angel caved. "I was just thinking of how Demonic activity has dropped exponentially lately. It makes me feel like they're plotting something, maybe something even worse than the assassination attempt."

"Well, I'll give you two some credit. You angels really are smarter than you look," the man taunted as he stepped out from the trees. This caused the Angels to whirl around to face him, weapons materializing instantly into their hands. Cynthia, with her blue ribbon dart named Torrent, and Aldrich, with his chainsaw broad sword aptly named Mantle.

"Commander General Dåvidé Umbrus. How nice of you to intrude," Aldrich stated irritatedly, his sword buzzing with seemingly the same emotion.

Umbrus' already big smile widened into a grin. "Ah, Captain Aldrich! So nice to see you again. When did we see each other last?" Umbrus asked sarcastically, feigning a look of thought on his face. "Oh! Yes! That's right. I saw you last, crawling towards your beloved Colossus, just barely alive after crossing me. You should know better than to try and kill Her Majesty. Really Aldrich, do learn some proper manners."

That was the last straw for Aldrich. He gripped Mantle tightly as his sandy colored wings sprouted from his back, and he flew at Umbrus, sword raised. Dåvidé only smirked as he set one foot behind the other as a brace, and raised his scythe, fully ready for a rematch with one of the League of Angels' top ranking captains. Chainsaw collided against Ghostflame, the material Dåvidé's scythe-blade was formed out of. It was a six foot broad sword against a six and a half foot scythe with a two foot blade, that was really just half of a blade.

Using his great agility, Umbrus quickly blocked every strike Aldrich made. What made Aldrich a high ranking Captain in the League was the fact that he could wield his weapon with not only great strength, but great speed. Pretty soon Aldrich saw he couldn't win like this alone. So, he jumped back, and flew into the air. He raised his sword above his head as the black razor chain started to glow gold, and there was a horrible ripping sound as the earth started to shake.

Sensing what was happening, Cynthia sprouted her wings and flew upward next to Aldrich. Umbrus watched as large chunks of earth were ripped from the ground around him, but stood his ground, and brought the head of his scythe close to his face. While this happened, the large chunks of earth, each about the size of a car, floated around Aldrich. They watched as the General spoke something to his scythe, and saw it transform into a longsword with a black flame-like, semi-solid blade protruding from the hilt.

"The scythe would have done you better Dåvidé, to combat what's coming for you," Aldrich stated with an imperious smirk. The General would lose this time. This time, he would be the one begging for mercy.

"You underestimate not only my power Captain, but the power of Nightingale as well," Umbrus countered, yet returning the same smirk. What did this man take him for? A normal Luciferian soldier? Or did Aldrich really think he'd trained enough to compete with him? Umbrus would certainly see. He did choose the Gale form for a reason.

"You're going to lose, Dåvidé," Aldrich stated, his expression turning serious. They were finally going to arrest the General Dåvidé Umbrus for his crimes against the Seraphimians. Namely aiding in the escape of Luciferian Queen Orfthrix, after her attempt on Chancellor Director Raethon's life. And, he would also be charged with the assault of Captain Aldrich Terramorph.

"We'll see about that, Terra," Umbrus stated grimly with a hint of sadness in his voice, his expression too, turning serious. There was a reason Umbrus didn't kill Aldrich when he had the chance. There was a reason why he would never kill Aldrich. This wasn't the first time he'd have to face off against an old friend. Raethon had taken many of Umbrus' former allies, mind-wasted them, then transformed them into someone else entirely. People Dåvidé no longer recognized. And that was why he hated Raethon and the pure-blood Seraphimians with every fiber of his being. They'd destroyed so many of the people he cared about, and wasn't going to stand for it any longer. "We will certainly see."

Aldrich swung his broadsword in a downward arc, causing all the the chunks of ground ripped from the earth to rocket towards Dåvidé at unearthly speeds. They were going so fast that they caught fire the moment they were set in motion, but this hardly even mattered to the General. Quite the contrary, it didn't bother him at all. He was too busy focusing all of his hate, his guilt, his fear, all of his dark emotions into his sword, causing the blackfire blade to burn even darker, so much so that it was turning the space around him darker. As this happened, time seemed to slow. The rocks that were just about to hit him slowed to a stop, or so it seemed. Umbrus was now moving so fast that it only appeared that these boulders were moving at speeds of a millimeter a minute. Once Gale's Darkfire blade fully powered, Umbrus gripped the sword with both of his hands.

"You asked for this. Again, I'm sorry T," Umbrus said sadly under his breath, before digging his feet into the remaining earth, and swinging Gale in a wide, sideways arc. This sent a chain of the blackest of the black fire rocketing through all the boulders, obliterating them upon impact. But it wasn't done. Once it had demolished all the boulders Aldrich had ripped from the earth, it hit him in the center of his torso, his blue-haired partner dodging at the last moment.

Aldrich plummeted to the ground, black smoke rising from the deep gash in his chest as it donned on him that he'd lost again. Close to death. Again. But he wouldn't beg for mercy. Not this time. Cynthia landed beside him in a kneeling position, cradling his head. She'd known Simon Aldrich Terramorph for as long as she could remember. He was the most powerful Seraphimians she'd ever known. One of the most passionate, devoted, caring… the list went on and on. Yet this was the second time she'd seen him like this. All thanks to one of the most powerful Luciferians she'd ever known. Dåvidé Umbrus. Head General and Commander of the Dark Battalions. The second being Jessaine Umbrus, his wife. A fire elemental, she was a part-time field agent as well as the full time Training Strategist for all the lower level Demon field agents. And, she was the head of the Luciferian Science and Technology Division.

Aldrich Terramorph was the number two ranking Seraphimian Captain in the Element of Earth Division in the League of Angels. That basically made him number one in the event of the original number one having become temporarily incapacitated or killed. Which was highly unlikely, seeing as how her sister was the Number One Captain. Estelle Obsidiver. She was actually her supervising officer for this mission.

"Cura," Cynthia whispered as she passed her hand over the dark gash in her friend's chest. Every Seraphimian knew the four main healing spells alongside their natural elemental spells and techniques. She watched as her friend's wound glowed fluorescent green, giving off the sign that it was starting to heal. She then stood up, taking a fighting stance in front of Aldrich, facing the General.

"I wasn't looking for a fight in the first place, First Captain of the Water Element Division," Umbrus sighed irritatedly, his sword dissipating from his hand. He turned away from her, and lifted his gloved hand up to open the Void Stream, the Luciferian means of transportation across long distances, or between worlds.

"This Captain has a name," Cynthia growled, readying a Balloonga spell. She always hated how Umbrus would never refer to her, or Aldrich, for that matter, by their names.

"I know, Aqua," Umbrus replied, saying his last remark to himself. He then entered the Void Stream, the jagged rift closing before Cynthia could fire her spell at him. Dåvidé walked through the Void Stream, keeping his destination in mind as not to become stuck in the Stream for a while.

While the Void Stream was a fast means of general transportation, it was somewhat volatile. It was just like a less lethal black hole. But if you let your mind wander, then you'd be subject to the mercy of the Void Stream. Basically, it was like getting sucked into a tornado that only got worse the more and more you panicked. You would literally get tossed around in a vortex of dark space until you eventually calmed down and focused on your destination again. Now traveling through the Void Stream was like walking down a hallway. Except that hallway was pitch black. And looked like it had no floor.

Different Worlds were different distances apart. In this case, it took about a ten minute walk through the Void Stream to get from Beta World Rio de Janeiro to Alpha World Luciferia. And Worlds were divided into many classes, Alpha, Beta, and Omega being the main three. The Greek classification system was based upon how high of Enchantrum levels each world had. Minimal being Omega, medium for Beta, gratuitous amounts for Alpha.

Pretty soon a rift opened in front of the General, and he wasted no time stepping through it. Once through to the other side, the rift closed behind him. About a mile in front of him stood the Demonic Citadel, the prime kingdom of his race, as well as the home of its government. The kingdom itself was surrounded by a 13,000 feet tall wall made of Enchantrum laced obsidian, which surrounded the entirety of the kingdom. Inside the wall was the Citadel, divided into different sections to house all the elemental Luciferians, the Darkness section making up the heart of the city. Speaking of the heart of the city, that was where the Umbral Spire was located, which was the main government center of not only the whole city, but the entire world. The spire itself was massive, stretching past the clouds, almost all the way to space. The gray clouds of the forever night sky swirled around the white-metal spire, giving the illusion of it being that much taller.

Wishing to waste no more time to make his report, especially on the recent incident he was involved in, Dåvidé sprouted his wings and flew towards the Citadel at full speed, making it to one of the many departure bays of the Spire in less than a minute. He landed smoothly on the marble flooring, jogging into a walk as he folded his wings. He removed his visor, again revealing his amethyst eyes and slipped it into his coat. He acknowledged the comrades of his that saluted him on their way out to their own missions.

Different shades of colors flew all around him, all of them combinations of one color and the black Luciferian gear. All shades of every color, red, yellow, blue, green, pink, purple, etc. because while skin color was a little less limited in Luciferia, it was a world where you could be born with any hair color possible.

As part of Luciferian gear, you received a coat of your choice, be it a simple jacket, a trench coat, a vest combined with armor, a black cloak, (commonly mistaken as a Nobody cloak), or just a black hood. Then you would receive shoulder and arm plating, as well as leg and knee plating, along with combat boots. You were given cargo jeans or clothes of that sort to wear under the leg plating, and of course every Luciferian had there own Summon, or their own weapon. His was a scythe with a twisting staff that ended in a point, and was topped with a draconic/avian head that appeared to be getting ready to breath fire. It kind of did since Nightingale used Ghostflame, a gaseous-metal, for the scythe blade.

As Umbrus exited the hangar into a wide hallway, again, filled with many Luciferians going many places, he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders. He looked to his side to see his beloved, Jessaine Kaivers-Umbrus traveling with him to make their report. They headed down the bright hall towards the Lift Terminal, the gigantic cylinder becoming visible despite the chaos of Demons hurrying back and forth to their destinations, be it for work missions, or items of personal agenda's. The chaos of the hallway was a lot like shining light into a cave of bats, how they would all rush out at once, except in this case, it would be an infinite amount of bats.

"Hey there Dark Star. Ready to go?" Jessaine said in a cheery manor, shocking her Tether.

In Luciferia, Tether was basically a synonym for husband or wife, depending on the context. Tethers implied 'married' couple, and Tethering Ceremony implied a marriage ceremony. And when one Luciferian wanted to Tether with another Luciferian, they would give a question similar to 'will you Tether with me?'

Dåvidé met Jessaine a few thousand years back when both of them were in basic training. It was ironic, because they were the biggest rivals in their training class. It was even more ironic since the Umbrus and Kaivers factions despised each other. It was only when there was a massive Heartless attack on the training base that they learned to put aside the feud between their families and rally the trainees against the Heartless.

Well, it was Umbrus who did the rallying. When the Heartless attacked the Training Academy, they knocked out all ten of the building's power cells, forcing the staff to turn on the ages-old auxiliary power. Dåvidé had sent Jessaine and some other friends of his to the Cell Station, where she was able to utilize her tech prowess to fix all ten power cells to get the security system up and running again. Umbrus and the classmates he took with him had managed to put a considerable dent in the number of Heartless that invaded the Training Academy. Once the Cells were powering the building again, the security bots made short work of the remaining Heartless. That's how Dåvidé became friends with Jessaine, how he discovered his weapon had two battle forms, and how Jessaine and he graduated early.

"How is it that you can always manage to be cheery, even when both of us have bad news to give to the Queen?" Umbrus asked his wife, who just smiled wider at the question.

"Ohhh, David. They're just Seraphimians, they're easy to deal with," Jessaine mused.

"They're Captains. A Captain and a Vice Captain in my case, but that means you have more to worry about," Umbrus stressed to his wife, who simply rolled her bright pink eyes under her shades.

"You worry too much David," Jessaine replied.

"You worry too little, Flarewing," Dåvidé said with concern. "And don't call me David."

By then they had reached the Lift Terminal, and stepped inside a less crowded one. Jessaine tapped the boxed in number 1,000 at the very bottom right of the large list, and stepped beside her Tether. She removed her shades and slipped them into her short sleeved black jacket, wrapping her arm back around Dåvidé's back and leaning against him in an affectionate gesture as the the Lift started its ascent. He reciprocated it by doing the same.

A few minutes later, the Lift reached its destination, the top floor. They stepped out into the much-less-busy complex, the Queen's guards lining the long hall. Removing their arms from each other and assuming more professional stances, the both of them readied there obsidian tablets. Both Demons started there journey down the extravagant hallway, the ruby walls separated by obsidian pillars that supported the sapphire ceiling, high above them. The silver chandeliers hung high above them, lighting the hall with their purple and pink Enchantrum torches, each chandelier alternating in color, casting their pretty hues over the already beautiful hall. Finally the clean marble floor looked smooth as they neared the Queen's chamber.

Once they arrived at the door, the Locksmith waved his hand, pulling all of the many locks out of their places before the General and his Tether entered the Queen's Chamber. The large obsidian door slowly opened, revealing Queen Gwynivere Orfthrix, who sat on her throne. But she wasn't just sitting there, she was talking with someone on a holoscreen, her faithful guards doing the same as well. And these were no ordinary guards. No, they were at the highest of their class, and could even be considered higher than the General and the Head Lieutenant in some cases.

These two guards went by the names of Blake Haarkness, and Mary Cherub. These two were the rarest Luciferians of their kind. Blake had complete dominion over Aura, sometimes called Energy, which allowed him to utilize any element, as well as steal the power from others. Mary on the other hand, could control and manipulate Enchantrum itself. This allowed her to, like Blake, utilize any element, but create powerful new spells as well. She could even do it in the middle of battle. They'd even earned themselves nicknames from the Seraphimians, which only happened if you were on their hit-list. Mary was dubbed the Enchantress, and Blake was dubbed the Vampire. Blake hated his. Umbrus couldn't blame him. Surely the Seraphimians could've come up with a better name.

Then there was Queen Gwynivere. A universal elemental in her own right, she controlled the Zodiac Spirits, giving her a whole arsenal of weapons to choose from. All she had to do was call out one of the Zodiac Signs, like Capricorn, for example, and she would be wielding a pair of indestructible razor Wind Boomerangs in an instant. Or she could call out Scorpio, and be wielding a pair of Poison Claws.

Unlike the rest of the Luciferians, she wore black armor that covered her arms and torso in Enchantrum laced leather scales, but with a purple hooded, sleeveless cloak, and her hair was an unusual tricolor. Reaching down to her waist, her hair was silver in color, changing to white and fire orange in random places. Despite this, it looked absolutely beautiful. Especially the way she wore it in that ginormous, cone-shaped ponytail of hers. Finally, the most unusual of all, her wings. All Luciferians had darker colored or black wings that were tipped with a color that either represented their personality or their element. But Gwynivere's wings glowed technicolor. And it wasn't just the fact that her entire wings glowed, but that they were technicolor. It wasn't very common among Seraphimians, but they had that trait more often than the Luciferians. In fact, she was the first ever instance of a Luciferian with glowing technicolor wings.

This did raise some occasional suspicion that she was actually a Seraphimian who had successfully worked her way up the ranks and had become Queen. Suspicion that she was selling secrets to the Angels, which would be an easy yet nonsensical explanation for their recent spike in technology advancement. But all of that suspicion was dissolved on that fateful day. The day when Raethon screamed bloody murder during a routine Enchantrum trade meeting.

During those meetings, Gwynivere would discuss with Raethon and his officials when Luciferia was running low, and vice versa for Seraphimia. Either party would always stumble upon new Enchantrum hot spots, and resort to trade once those hot spots were exhausted. The Luciferians had stopped trade for two reasons. The first one being that they were satisfied with their current societal technological advancements. The second, prime answer being how Raethon and his officials tried to kill Gwynivere, Blake and Mary, and Jessaine and Dåvidé. Raethon had declared to the Seraphimians that it was Gwynivere and her officials attempted to assassinate him, that he and his officials acted in self defense. Raethon's officials being Aeolus, Arlenéa, Evadne, Vathias, and Siarnaq.

Siarnaq was a rarity among his Seraphimian brethren. He was a Poison elemental, which was a more common trait among Luciferian troops. Of all five members of Raethon's inner circle, Siarnaq was the most trusted with carrying information from Seraphimia to Luciferia, back when both races were developing their inter-dimensional communication systems. He was Raethon's most trusted in this field because of one singular fact. He almost never spoke.

After the IDC's had been fully developed, Siarnaq became Raethon's most trusted assassin. This skill came second nature to the selective mute, being a Poison elemental. Being a Seraphimian, his weapon had three forms: an Attack form, a Defense form, Magic/Speed form, depending on what kind of elemental you were. For Siarnaq, his Defense consisted of two katanas. These katanas shared the same design, a metal Tibetan Pit Viper that wrapped around the grip, the blade protruding from its open maw, decorated with a Nightshade flower design. Speaking of Nightshade, that was the name of his weapon. His Attack form consisted of two shuriken gauntlets that grew two light blue energy shurikens. These two shurikens were about eight to ten times the size of normal shurikens, and injected their victims with a Venomra spell. Finally, Siarnaq wielded a Speed form, which consisted of infinite needles laced with a paralyzing agent. These were only utilized when he needed to take out multiple targets.

Vathias, he was the Seraphimian equivalent of Jessaine. He was the head of the Tech Department, the Training Director for novice Angels, and was Joined to Commander Arlenéa. Joining was the Seraphimian equivalent of Tethering. Being a Seraphimian, it was only natural that he was a Light elemental. His weapon consisted of two Long Axes, which annoyed Dåvidé to no end. They were like smaller versions of his scythe, except they represented the opposite element.

Arlenéa, the Seraphimian equivalent of Jessaine, and her mortal enemy, was a Thunder elemental. She was also one of both of Raethon's personal guards. Ant Queen, as Jessaine liked to call her, among other things, wielded a pair of Claw Gloves. She also wielded some pretty incredible abilities for a Lightning elemental such as herself. Ant Queen could travel at high speeds a normal Seraphimian would need to utilize their wings to accomplish, she could split herself in two, which made air battle extremely complicated, and she utilized her Thunder spells and lightning shots in creative and unpredictable ways. She and Jessaine had their fair share of wins and losses between them, annoying Jessaine all the more.

That left Evadne and Aeolus. Evadne was the First Captain of the Ice Division in the League of Angels, and one of the stronger overall Captains, being in Raethon's Circle. His weapon consisted of two Ice Gauntlets that went by one weapon name: Thetis. Evadne was the very first Seraphimian Dåvidé had ever seen hold their own against Blake. The Ice Captain only had to switch to Thetis' Defense form, two royal blue shields outlined by white edges, and that was only minutes before they left.

Finally, there was Aeolus. The Luciferians at their end of the table thought for a long time that he looked familiar. His weapons, a pair of Twin Lances named Jet and Drift, made him a formidable opponent. He was Raethon's other personal guard, and the youngest Seraphimian to ever hold such a high and powerful position. Only a few hundred years old, four hundred or five hundred to be exact. But he was still able to hold his own against Mary, perhaps even better than Evadne did against Blake.

Dåvidé shook himself from his thoughts, and turned on his tablet to address the Queen.

"General Umbrus, Jessaine, have you found them?" Gwynivere asked in a neutral tone, clasping her hands together and resting one leg atop the other, waiting for their responses.

Dåvidé nodded to his Tether, letting her make her report first, causing Gwynivere to look at Jessaine expectantly.

"I've found Ezekiel Ellis and Arden Cho, but it appears a couple of Raethon's troops have as well," Jessaine stated, her voice accented by slight disdain as she tried to remain professional.

"Alright, and your report, General Umbrus?" The Queen asked, her tone less neutral and more irritated, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead.

Dåvidé cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I have worse news. I've not yet made contact with Cyrus and Roxanne Hoffmann, but I encountered Aqua and Terra. It wasn't pretty."

Gwynivere's expression changed, her eyes flying open in shock. This even caused Mary to cock an eyebrow, and the screen plating of Blake's helmet to light up with a 'Really?', in green lettering.

Late in the Assassination Attempt while Blake and Evadne were fighting each other, Evadne slashed Blake's throat, severely damaging his vocal cords. He also blasted him at point-blank with a Blizzaga spell. In Blake's face, causing him extreme frostbite all over his face. By now it was mostly healed, but his vocal cords were still significantly damaged. So, he used his Screen Helm, as he called it, to communicate with others.

"Are you sure, Dåvidé?" Gwynivere asked him expectantly, leaning forward in her throne with great interest.

"As much as I can be, my Queen," Umbrus assured his superior with all of his honesty.

"Alright then. Be very careful as you head back, the both of you. Bring the targets safely back here, and be on guard," Gwynivere ordered Jessaine and Dåvidé.

"Yes ma'am," the both of them said in unison, giving their bows before leaving Gwynivere to return to their respective missions.

After they left, Gwynivere reached a black gloved hand behind the collar of her armor and pulled out a beat up, slightly rusted locket. She opened it up and looked at the faces of the two toddlers in side by side pictures. The one on the left was of a five year old boy with slicked back white hair, and the one on the right was of a six year old girl with messy fire orange hair. She closed the locket, tucked it back behind her armor, and smiled. Gwynivere would see her children soon.


	6. Chapter 6

Cyrus stood next to Roxie on the branch outside Dom's hollow, watching the the wispy strands of white cotton as they slowly but visibly moved, high in the azure sky. The sun felt warm on their feathers as it hung high in the sky, casting its colorful rays on the grassy field in front of them. And then there was the breeze, how the both of them relished it. Combined with the beautiful sights and warm weather, it reminded them of a typical summer day back home.

Peridot City, Illinois. Just a few hours north of Chicago, it was the perfect place to call home. Cyrus and Roxie were sure anyone would say that or something similar about their hometown, but you had to be there. The crime rate was low, the homes were affordable, and the people were great. Downtown there was the high school where Cyrus and Roxie spent most of there teenage days. On the east side was where they would spend there time with Zeke and Arden just walking around the city, window shopping, talking about their days, and getting Dairy Queen on Fridays. They really missed those days, when life was more simple. Now they were hiding out in Rio while on the run from an evil organization. In the forms of birds, no less. They also weren't quite sure how that came to be.

"It's kind of funny," Cyrus said out loud.

Roxie turned her head to look at him in confusion. "What is?"

"How us, two teenagers, not two years ago had a normal life. Then just like that, we're flung into a world of magic and heart hungry monsters while hiding out in Rio de Janeiro. As birds no less!" Cyrus exclaimed, the corners of his beak curving up into a smile.

It did don on Roxie how insane their lives had gotten over the past two years. First they get kidnapped from their home in the middle of a school day, then they have their memories erased and replaced with false ones, then that mechanism slowly fails over time. Then they have to escape one of the most well guarded places they'd ever had the displeasure of working for, and now they were hiding out in Rio.

"I guess you're right about that," she agreed, giving a small laugh. "I would also like to know how we're birds too."

"I wonder if we'll ever find out," Cyrus trailed off. He shook his head, letting go of the thought. "Wanna go look around?"

"Sure."

So they flew into the city, just the two of them, to go sight seeing. Since they arrived at this world, they hadn't really had time to themselves to spend time with each other, or to scope out the landscape of their world. This came in handy in previous worlds when they had to escape from their employers. Repeatedly.

They loved taking flight, albeit the first time it felt a little weird. The feeling of the air against their face, supporting them. In a way, it was like swimming through the sky. Roxie would know. In high school, she was a part of the Peridot High Varsity Swim Team, or PHVST. She was the Captain after all. Which was weird. She figured since she was a fire elemental that she would have a personality based around her element, kind of like Cyrus did. He was calm, collected, and decisive. When he wanted to be anyway.

Back in elementary through middle school, kids would always pick on him because of his 'weird white hair', among other things. It used to get to her brother then, but he stopped caring once they got to high school. Like her, he was interested in sports. Through elementary and middle school, the both of them played Rec. League Soccer, but once they got to high school, swim team started to interfere with that. So, Roxie stuck with that, having liked swimming better than soccer. There was just something easier about swimming back and forth and diving in different ways than kicking a spotted ball into a goal. Cyrus was ok with it. After all, Arden was on the same team as him freshman and sophomore year.

That was actually when they met Zeke and Arden, when they got to high school. Roxie was in a separate advisory from Cyrus, in a separate unit in fact. Zeke was in Roxie's first period Algebra 1 Enriched class while Arden was in the same advisory as Cyrus. The both of them shared their first and third class periods and, just like Roxie and Zeke, settled on having lunch together. Zeke and Arden, already having been friends for a while had planned to eat punch with each other in the first place. Then they just decided on tagging along with Roxie and Cyrus.

And that's how all of them met. It was crazy how the years flew by, discarding the fact that their lives were anything but normal now. Cyrus wondered if it still would've gone that fast had that one day never happened.

"Hey," Cyrus heard his sister say to him, breaking him away from his thoughts. He looked at her, tossing his head to the side to get the red head feathers out of his face.

"You ok? You've been silent for the entire time, I got a little worried," Roxie stated concernedly as they soared through the noon sky.

"Yeah I'm fine, just some high school memories and reminders of other things came up," Cyrus replied giving her a small smile of comfort. "Stop worrying Roxie, we have nothing to worry about now, so don't give us anything to worry about."

She glared at him jokingly. "Screw you."

After flying for a little while longer, they opted to land on the left arm of the Christ the Redeemer statue and rest. From their they could see the entirety of the city, from its beautiful parts to its not-so-beautiful parts. The white hotel buildings looked very welcoming from a distance, and the two siblings could see themselves vacationing to Rio someday. Sure, it had a bad crime rate, but with their skills they'd be fine. Maybe they could come back here once their lives calmed down, if that ever happened at least.

David flew through the air over the city in his blackbird form, thinking on where else his targets could have gone. The sun was shining bright as ever, warming his back as he flew, glinting off the ocean below him. The wind felt good against his face as it seeped through his feathers, keeping the sun from overheating his body. It was with the help of all of these factors that aid his thinking. This was his ideal thinking environment, when he could just think to himself.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance?" A familiar voice spoke in his head.

Well, there goes my ideal thinking environment, Dåvidé thought to himself. He even went so far as imagining in it plummeting through the sky and making a 'smack!' as it hit the ocean. And then it would drown.

"What do you want Nightingale?" He asked impatiently. His weapon spirit and him had a great battle partnership. Outside of that, Night, Umbrus' nickname for Nightingale, was a pain to talk to. Much less receive advice from.

"Like I suggested, perhaps I could be of assistance in finding your targets," the weapon spirit proposed, a slight smile audible in his voice.

Dåvidé sighed. At this point, he was open to anything really. He'd scoured the city from a ground and aerial view at least ten times over, and he hadn't come up with the slightest lead as to where the Hoffman siblings might be. So advice from his irritating weapon spirit didn't seem like the worst thing in the world.

"Alright fine, let's hear it," Umbrus huffed as he perched himself atop a nearby building.

"Well you know how you turned into a blackbird to make another aerial run of the city instead of using a Vanish spell to conserve your magic?" Nightingale started.

"Yes?" Umbrus replied, confused as to where Night was going with this.

"Well you also remember how I can force you to change into a blackbird, or any other bird for that matter?" Night stated, audibly stifling a giggle.

"Yes, I remember," Dåvidé stated through gritted teeth. Every now and again, Night decided to play a trick on Dåvidé and turn him into a random bird. At the most random times as well. He was just thankful Night didn't do that while he gave his report to Gwynivere back on Luciferia.

"Where are you going with this, Nightingale?"

"I'm suggesting the weapon spirits of Cyrus and Roxie forced them to turn into animals of some kind. They're still in Rio, that much is true. So I suggest you pull out that Elemental Signature Reader tool of yours and look for what animals they've turned into," Nightingale spoke in Dåvidé's head, before going quiet once more.

Why didn't I think of that? Well, he thought to himself, at least he stopped talking.

"I heard that," Night said. "And you're welcome."

Dåvidé let out a frustrated growl before using a Change spell to turn back into his humanoid form. He pulled out his Elemental Signature Reader, or ESR, and his visor. He hadn't gotten his visor updated with the latest software recently, so that's why he was still stuck with the ridiculous looking attachment. With the attachment, it looked like you attaching another lens bar to the first lens bar. It looked ridiculous in Luciferia at least.

Once he put his visor back on, he walked up to the edge of the building and tapped the ESR to turn it on. He looked all around the city, picking up occasional blips of light blue and amber spots. He recognized those signatures as ones of Water and Earth. He honestly had no idea who those signatures belonged to. It appeared his Angelic friends were on the hunt for Cyrus and Roxanne as well. Great.

"Focus Dåvidé," Nightingale commanded, drawing the General's attention away from the Seraphimians and back onto the targets. This was one of the rare occasions, besides battle, where Umbrus didn't mind hearing Nightingale's voice.

With a new smile, Dåvidé said "Thank you Night."

"Of course," Nightingale replied understandingly. Dåvidé didn't need to be thinking about Aqua and Terra right now. Night understood that. He did enjoy crossing many of Umbrus' boundaries, but he knew not to cross the boundary and mock those who Dåvidé held dear.

So he resumed scanning the city, ignoring the blue and amber blips with the help of his weapon spirit. And just when he was about to give up, he noticed something on the right arm of the Christ the Redeemer Statue. Two dots of different colors, both different from the blips of amber and light blue that peppered the city.

"Enhance," he commanded the device, having it zoom in on the right arm of the statue. Once it did, he gave it a second command.

"Now move half a click left." The device did as it was told, moving it's focus until General Umbrus was looking at two Scarlet Macaws, one surrounded in a white coloring, the other surrounded in an orange coloring. The one on the left with blue eyes, the one with the white coloring must've been Cyrus. The ESR showed him as being an Ice Elemental. So the bird next to him, by power of deduction, must've been Roxanne. And the ESR showed her as being a… Sun Elemental.

Dåvidé stayed quiet for a few seconds before taking off his visor. He wiped his purple eyes before putting the device back over his eyes, and taking another look at the two siblings. Cyrus' signature came up as white, just as it did before. Then he turned his attention to Roxanne. Her signature, it lit up orange just as it did before. So, he wasn't seeing things. Either, the old piece of equipment had malfunctioned and written off a Fire Elemental as something wrong, or Sun Elementals weren't as extinct as either race thought.

He would figure that out later. Until then, he needed to make contact before the Seraphimians did. So, Dåvidé used another Change spell to transform back into a blackbird, and he set off for the Christ the Redeemer statue.

"I wonder how things are going back home," Cyrus said aloud, catching his sister's attention. It'd been 2 years since they'd seen or heard anything about Peridot City, and Cyrus had gotten himself into one of those moods again. He missed his home, and he'd do anything to go back, and he knew Roxie felt the same way. But she was always stronger than him, more positive and motivated. She was the force that held the both of them together, even in the times when it felt like he was ready to fall apart.

Roxie knew that he always needed more motivation to push through these tough times. When she heard him say that, she knew immediately knew how he was feeling. Missing that normal life of going to school and seeing friends, going out places and having fun, and spending time with family. Which reminded her of their mom.

Gwynivere O. Hoffman was the strongest person she knew, the most loving, caring, understanding human being on the planet. She was always there for her children. She was at every soccer game and swim meet, every orchestra concert and speech and debate competition. She was there when Cyrus' sophomore silver-sect soccer team won first place against Wayne. WAYNE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. Cyrus had blocked almost every single ball kicked his way, being the best goalie that he was. And she was there when Roxie tied for first place in her drama speech competition. She was so unbelievably nervous for that competition it wasn't even funny. The night before it she hadn't gotten any sleep, she was running mainly on caffeine and sugar, and when they got back home, she collapsed on the couch in exhaustion. It wasn't that she wasn't prepared for the competition; she was. She just didn't enjoy the aspect of getting up in front of a large group of people. But of course, her mother was there to save the day. She was there in the audience, smiling back at her daughter as she'd walked on stage. She even mouthed 'you got this.' That was enough for Roxie. But enough of that. She was rambling inside her own head. She focused back on reality, where she saw a blackbird coming in to land next to them.

"Hey, you guys mind if I rest here?" The bird asked in his deep voice, landing a little to the left of Cyrus. What struck Roxie as interesting were his purple colored eyes, not just the fact that his eyes were that color, but the way they watched her and Cyrus. It was the kind of look someone got when they see someone they knew. But perhaps she was mistaken.

"Sure, go ahead," Cyrus replied.

"Thanks. Nice day today huh?" The bird commented, turning his head away from them and looking out over the city.

"Well we are in Rio," Roxie replied dryly.

"Yeah, right."

This might be harder than he originally thought. He'd have to build a friendly relationship with these two, then slowly reveal who he was. That was easier said than done. He was over a thousand years old while these two were nowhere near a hundred. The only real friends he had were from Gwynivere's inner circle. His best friend of course was his Tether, since he'd know her the longest. Dåvidé had only befriended the Queen once he assumed the rank of General Commander.

Then there was the Queen's guards, Blake and Mary. He'd met them on one mission the Queen tasked them with. They were to clear out all the Heartless, savage soul-devouring shadow beasts, from a Beta World. But that was a story for another day.

"You okay?" A voice asked him, breaking him from his thoughts. He turned to see it came from the Queen's daughter. "You disappeared for a second there."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dåvidé assured her, giving a smile. "Just spaced out for a second."

"Well, we were going to head over to a friend's place if you'd like to join us," Cyrus suggested, the corner of his beak turning up into a half smile.

"Sure," Umbrus agreed.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Roxie assured him, flapping her wings and taking off, her brother in hot pursuit. Umbrus quickly followed.

The summer air was warm against his feathers as the three of them flew over the city. He'd never been to Rio. He figured it might be a good vacation spot, as many other places on many other worlds were. The weather was warm, there were sights to see, restaurants to eat at. He had many destinations on his bucket list, after having visited so many worlds. But that was for another time. Right now he had to focus on the task at hand.

He followed the two teens as they flew into a fruit market, passing by stands of coconuts, guavas, starfruit and other exotic fruits as they did. As they lighted down near what looked like a pile of boxes with a tarp thrown over it, Dåvidé took in a breath. As he did he noticed the air was filled with the scent of different exotic fruits and car exhaust. He also noticed as they were flying through the market a few shipment trucks, each carrying wooden boxes filled with different fruits.

"It may not look like much, but here it is," Cyrus stated, spreading out his wings as if he were in retail and was trying to sell a crappy house.

"I'm gonna be honest here," Umbrus stated bluntly. "It looks like a pile of boxes with a tarp thrown over it."

"Looks can be deceiving David," Roxie said as she walked through a slit in the tarp.

"Especially with this," Cyrus added before following his sister.

Dåvidé could only follow, pushing aside one side of the slitted tarp and entering the space. What he found on the inside surprised him. He had entered a sort of birds-only club. There was samba playing full blast, a crowd of birds not too far away. He spotted Cyrus and Roxie off to the left, Cyrus' wing wrapped another bird. The three of them, the siblings and Cyrus' beau, Umbrus assumed, were with two other birds. One of them a cardinal, the other a yellow canary.

"Well, this was rather unexpected for me," Dåvidé stated after walking over to the two siblings, ducking as another bird flew over his head.

"David, so glad you could join us," Cyrus stated, his wing still wrapped around the Army Macaw he was with.

"Well all of this certainly was unexpected," Umbrus replied, looking around at all the birds dancing, flying around, or just generally socializing. There were all kinds of birds in this place. He saw, Scarlet macaws, Army, Green-Winged, he even saw a Spoonbill dancing on top of one of the many wooden boxes in this place. Just when he thought he'd seen it all.

"And Cyrus forgot to introduce some friends of ours," Roxie stated, causing her brother to make a face at her, to which she just winked. She raised her wing and gestured to her friends. "David, this is Nico, Pedro, and Dominic."

"Hello," David said with a wave of his dark wing, smiling as he did so.

"'Sup," the cardinal greeted with a nod of his rose red head.

"Hey," the canary greeted with a tip of his bottle cap hat.

"Nice to meet you," the army macaw greeted. "So how long have you known this handsome bird and his sister?"

"Quite frankly, we just met," Roxie said with a sheepish laugh.

"Oh, well then we should get you three acquainted," Nico suggested.

"How do you suppose we do that?" Dåvidé said.

"By dancing of course!" The cardinal and canary shouted in unison.

Dåvidé didn't like where this was going. He didn't dance. Period. Jessaine knew this perhaps even better than he did. She wasn't really a dancer herself, but could pull it off pretty well when she needed to, or so he was told. The only exception Dåvidé made to dancing was when he had the opportunity to do it with his Tether. The only time when dancing was okay was when it was with his Tether.

But, this was about bringing the Queen's children home. Yes, he knew that Cyrus and Roxanne were Gwynivere's children, as she had given this little piece of information to her trusted Inner Circle. Jessaine, Blake, Mary, Dåvidé all knew it. That's why this mission was so important. So that the two teens could be raised properly, on their home world. It was also vital because of their powers. Ice, the elemental signature Dåvidé had read from Cyrus, was a rare element on Luciferia. It was more common that Angels had dominion over this power. And he could definitely see why it was vital to retrieve Roxanne. The Sun element was one of two Hybrid Elements, the other being the Moon.

Sun mixed the fearsome power of Fire with the powerful technique of Photosynthesis, a common technique utilized by Nature elementals. But that wasn't it. These rare Elementals had complete command over Light, a Seraphimian staple element. That was a versatile element in its own right. Roxanne had so much potential, jump started by the training she received at Organization XIII, though he was sad she, her brother and their friends had to go through that.

Moon deserved an explanation as well. An element kept alive by one person, it was a powerful one, just like Sun. Gifting it's user with a fierce intellect, a Berserker attack technique that rendered it's user nearly invincible, and immense energy, the one person gifted with it was far more powerful than anyone he knew realized. Perhaps even more powerful than Simon Aldrich. This man was a high-ranking member of Organization XIII, one of the 'Nobodies', as they called themselves. Multiple Demons and Angels had approached him and offered him a place in both races' ranks, all encounters ending in bloodshed and few of either race making it out alive.

But as Dåvidé thought to himself, he realized he was getting way off topic. He needed to focus on the more pressing issue of the 'dancing' these birds wanted him to partake in.

"Let's get started then! Who's gonna dance with who?" The cardinal stated.

"Do you really have to ask?" Dom stated as he pulled Cyrus close, staring down at the blushing younger bird.

"I'll go with David," Roxie stated, wrapping her wing around the taller blackbird, who tensed up.

"Looks like we're all settled then," the canary commented.

Umbrus heaved a small sigh. This was gonna suck.

Roxie took his right wing in her left, and he wrapped his left wing around her waist. They stepped in time with the music, Umbrus occasionally twirling her around or leaning her over while supporting her back. It wasn't bad, he supposed, dancing with the Queen's daughter. The awkward feeling he got from dancing with her slowly faded, and it started to show, his moves becoming more confident as he danced. And it appeared that Roxanne picked up on this, leading him into more complex moves, and against all odds, increased the fun. Dåvidé was actually having fun dancing. He smiled, and so did Roxie, as they purposefully lost themselves in the dance.

A couple hours later, the sun was going down. Dåvidé said goodbye to the Hoffman siblings as they flew off with that green bird, Dom they called him, to his hollow for the evening. As they did that, once they were a safe distance away he used a Vanish spell and flew after them. A great number of streets and dark alleyways later, they were out of the city. As it turned out, this beau that Cyrus had lived on the outskirts of the city. That was good, especially in combination with the tracking spell he placed on Roxie while they were dancing. Now if something bad happened, he'd be able to find them.

After acting like a stalker enough, Umbrus went to a separate edge of the city and Changed back into his Demon form. He then opened up the Void Stream and targeted Luciferia, and stepped through. He opened the Stream directly into the Queen's quarters, where he saw her relax at the sight of him. Gwynivere went from sitting up straight and looking all prim and proper to slouching on her throne and shedding the royal façade. She folded one leg over the other and rested her head on one hand she propped up on her armrest. Her brown hair streaked with orange and white was back. Looks like she didn't like the silver hair as much as she thought she would.

"Hello General. Any updates?" She asked him boredly. She'd been sitting on her throne basically all day, and though it was very comfortable to sit on, she was very tired. As Queen of Luciferia, there wasn't really much to do all of her days except give commands and listen to updates relating to those commands. For example, she'd give an order to a squadron of Demons to take out a growing number of Dream Eaters on a certain world or to wake up a certain world or to get rid of a Heartless in another world. That might sound like much, but it really wasn't. She missed her days as a field agent, fighting off the threats she just listed. Darn her older age and greater power.

"I've made contact with your children, and have not encountered either of the two Seraphimians on that world," Umbrus reported.

"That's good to hear," Gwynivere said wistfully, letting out a sigh of boredom.

"If it makes you feel any better Gwen, your children are happy. Despite being on an unfamiliar world, Cyrus and Roxanne seem to be making the most of it. Hell, Cyrus even has himself a boyfriend by the looks of it," Umbrus soothed her with a smile. And it seemed to work as a smile lit up her face as she sat up, more attentive.

"Please Dåvidé, tell me more," Gwynivere commanded her top General and dear friend.

"Well, I don't know much, but I do know that Cyrus' boyfriend, I believe his name is Dominic, is housing the two of your children," Umbrus started, summoning his scythe to lean on as he regaled the Queen. "They seem happy as well, as there is a, umm… club for birds we'll say which is located in the city's fruit market that your children like to frequent. There's dancing, singing and drinks to enjoy in said club. Nonalcoholic of course."

"Intriguing," Gwynivere replied, her cheeks creasing as she smiled more, her white teeth showing.

"Though much to my dismay, a few friends of theirs decided dancing would be a good way to get to know your children when we entered that little club," Umbrus stated, his pale cheeks turning slightly rosy.

"Is the 'Dark Fortress' himself getting embarrassed?" Mary chimed in, tipping her sunglass visor at the General with a smile, eyeing him with her foggy blue pools.

"You shut up, Cherub," Umbrus pointed to the Queen's guard without looking at her, shedding his blush like a second skin. "You know how I am with dancing."

"I'm Dåvidé Umbrus and I don't dance," Blake's helmet spoke in his voice as the green-lettered caption typed itself out on his facial visor.

The Queen broke out laughing, as did Mary while Blake crossed his arms and snickered, leaving the General, who simply smirked and rolled his eyes. The Queen's laughter rose above the other commotion, the light toned yet rich sound of joy being one of the most beautiful noises in the room.

"Says Two Face over there," Dåvidé responded.

"Alright you three, calm down. We're all adults here," Gwynivere stated, attempting to be the voice of reason in the room.

Mary just burst out laughing again, as did Dåvidé this time around.

"Oh Gwen, all of us may be thousands of years old, but we're certainly not adults," Mary laughed, releasing a great exhale as she removed her sunglasses to wipe tears from her eyes. "Oooooh dear. Wow."

"I swear, you three are like the other three children I never had, dear Lord," Gwynivere smiled as she leaned back in her throne, placing her hand on her chest as she caught her breath. "Can't remember the last time we laughed that hard."

Umbrus stayed silent for a moment as he remembered the last time the four of them laughed that hard. "I don't know about you three, but I certainly can."

"Oh do tell David," Blake spoke, without his helmet doing the work for him.

"You guys seriously don't remember when we shoved Jessaine in front of that GIGANTIC horde of Heartless?" Dåvidé's voice cracked as he was barely able to contain his laughter.

"Oh my God! How could I have forgotten that?!" Gwynivere shouted and slapped her armrest a few times before losing it.

"And how we flew away to watch it from a distance? How it looked like a scene straight out of Scooby Do?" Mary laughed, holding her hand against the wall so she wouldn't fall to the floor while laughing. She even clutched her stomach she was laughing so hard.

Blake joined in on the laughing, his laughter genuine yet much more controlled as he placed a black gloved hand on his facial visor to hold his head up. "And when she learned it was your idea Dåvidé? Good Lord she was so freaking pissed!"

"Her hair caught on fire, she was so mad," Umbrus wheezed, taking off his visor to dry his watering eyes. The four 'adults' continued laughing like that for a good five minutes, Gwynivere was even curled up in a ball on her throne while she laughed.

"Damn. That really makes me miss the old days when we were just field agents," Gwen sighed longingly after they got their acts together. "Everything was just so much more fun back then; the time we got to spend with each other. Oh man."

"Well, Jessaine and I are still kind of field agents," Dåvidé reasoned. "And you still have Blake and Mary to reminisce with."

"She actually kind of doesn't. You really don't know how much work Gwen has to do everyday Dåvidé. It's really kinda sad, since you can see how much it kills her sometimes," Blake spoke, with his helmet this time after a few coughs.

"Especially when tensions are so high between us and Seraphimia," Mary sighed. "You have no idea how many Angel vs. Demon fights there've been recently. A good number of our operatives are gravely injured from the more powerful Angels they encountered. It's incredibly frustrating."

Blake and Mary, being in the same room as the Queen forty eight hours a day, fourteen days a week, (Luciferian and Seraphimian days were twice as long as Earth days. Same with weeks), knew far more about the political situations and tensions that were going on between the races than Dåvidé or Jessaine did. And the situation, as of that moment, was poor. It wasn't very good at all. There were more and more scuffles between squadrons of Demons and squadrons of Angels. That meant more and more Demons were getting heavily injured and taking off work to recuperate in the infirmary or at their homes. It's like the Seraphimians wanted the Luciferians to declare war. Perhaps it was one of Raethons' machinations against them. It was hard to tell with how little they knew.

"Any war threats from the Illusionist himself?" Dåvidé asked the Queen after his brief moment of deep thought as he looked up at her.

"No. All wireless communications with the Seraphimians were cut off straight after we escaped their assassination attempt," Gwynivere reminded her General Commander, arching a brow at him. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just with all of these unprovoked attacks on our lower level operatives, it seems like they're trying to provoke us into declaring war on them," Umbrus observed, gauging from the last few dozen squadron fights, the Angels seemed to be poking the bear then fleeing, and repeating that process.

"I've noticed that too, but it's certainly going to take more tan what they're doing to ignite a war," Mary said, leaning against the wall with her arms folded against her chest.

"I second that," Blake spoke, his voice getting gruff from overuse. It appeared his voice was healing, but he still had a while to go before he could talk normally again. It showed as he coughed a few more times before clearing his throat

"Well Dåvidé, I think it's time you left. And please report back to me every week to let me know how my children are doing," Gwynivere commanded Dåvidé.

"Of course, my Queen," Umbrus replied with a nod of his head, then opening the Void Stream and leaving.

"I really wish he would just refer to me as Gwen," she sighed.

([A/N]: Hi to anyone who reads this junk. I'm not dead. I'm finally getting off my rear end and writing again. And this story is a year old, and I wanna get to rewriting Nature of the Storm. And fair warning, stuff's gonna get real within the remaining chapters. The next two will involve time skips, the second one smaler than the first. But yeah, needed to get that off of my chest. See you guys soon •_•)


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